Bring The Rain
by JessBubble
Summary: Ellie Witwicky is an MIT graduate - Will Lennox is a soldier. One follows orders and the other follows her gut. In the ensuing chaos of an alien war, the pair somehow manage to form a partnership that will allow them to work together to save the world. With her brains and his brawn there seems to be nothing that can stop them - not even the decepticons.
1. Chapter 1: Coming Home

**A huge thank you to NixiePixieStix for reviewing this chapter and fixing my paragraphs**

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"You're joking, right?" I demanded. The Bluetooth headset in my ear crackled with static as I drove along,

"Do I look like I'm joking?" she asked with a laugh, forgetting I couldn't see her because I wasn't even in the same state. "He asked me to marry him and I said yes!" she squealed again, the excitement in her voice overwhelming. A wide grin stretched across my lips as I banged a fist on my steering wheel,

"Oh, my god you go girl!" I screamed back, reveling in the infectious enthusiasm in her voice. "Is it a diamond?" I asked, curious about the ring.

She giggled, "Oh yeah, lots of little ones set in a silver band...oh it's gorgeous." she gushed.

Glancing at the sign coming up I felt my grin widen once more. Home...I was nearly home for the first time in four years. I hadn't planned to stay so long, but my engineering degree became a Bachelor of Engineering that suddenly turned into a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering. I was now fully qualified to design, research, build and experiment with flight equipment as well as the normal mechanical things and some electrical tech that I'd done on the side.

"Are you nearly home yet?" my friend questioned, friendly concern lacing her tone.

Laughing to myself I shook my head, "Relax Cord, I did have pretty far to drive remember?" I reminded her. Living in Southgate California meant I had had a very long drive down from MIT in Massachusetts. "But nearly, ten minutes perhaps? It's weird to drive past my old high school." I admitted.

Cordelia Longheart was my best friend; we'd shared a dorm and later an apartment when we'd scraped enough money together at MIT. She was the same age as me at twenty-four and we had had our fair share of arguments over the years but stuck together through it all. She, herself was from an entirely different state, Mission City in Nevada to be precise. She was an hour from the Hoover Dam which I thought was cool but, she didn't think so - apparently, a city in the middle of nowhere wasn't her place to set up a home. She was visiting her parents (probably to tell them about her engagement) but all her stuff had already been moved over to her fiancés apartment in New York. He was the head of some corporate company and thirty-two years old but they were cute and he treated her right, so the age gap was overlooked.

"Right, I forgot. You wanted to drive from the airport instead of just getting a cab like a normal person." she teased, "Well I've got to go, me and Rob are here now so...take care of yourself and I'll speak to you soon okay?" she hung up before I could agree making me shake my head with a grin.

Cordelia was so impulsive sometimes and perhaps a bit forgetful, there were days where I swore she'd forget her head if it wasn't screwed on. Driving onto the small yet familiar street I drew in a deep breath, looking down the rows of houses before I finally found mine. Smiling, I pulled up into the drive and killed the engine, honking my horn loudly.

My mom came hurrying out, glaring, and wielding her rolling pin while her flowery apron swayed in the summer breeze - the minute she saw me she dropped the rolling pin and embraced me tightly.

Squeezing her back, I couldn't help but laugh when she began crying into my shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm home now, no tears." I scolded playfully. She rolled her eyes, pulling back from me, and wiping her eyes.

"You caught me in the middle of baking your welcome home cake," she tutted at me, but her expression was far from serious. "Your farther and Sam are out buying a car for your brother," she informed me. I inhaled a deep lungful of the fresh California air and opened the boot of my old GTO with a push of a button, mentally praising myself for the work I'd done on restoring it.

"Help me get my stuff upstairs, please?" I requested. She nodded.

"Of course, of course." she shooed me towards the car and together we unpacked all seven boxes and two duffel bags I had crammed into my car.

There wouldn't be enough space in my room for all of this but I could put it in the attic until I found a place of my own. Finally, when the last two boxes were lugged upstairs I could lock my car. My mom touched my cheek gently and the warmth of her hand radiated into me. I sighed a little at her touch.

"I missed you," she murmured at the same time I did.

Chuckling slightly, I pulled her into another tight hug. She always smelt of flour for some reason though she hardly ever baked. Speaking of baking..."Mom did you leave the rolling pin in the garden?" I asked.

My mother's eyes widened and she hurried outside as I collapsed onto my bed in a fit of giggles. I couldn't quite understand why she needed a rolling pin if she was baking a cake. That was my mom for you, a little crazy but very loveable...when she wasn't being her annoying, persistent self.

Looking around the room, there were still some old posters on the walls of bands I had liked but out grown. I quickly took them down and replaced them with my posters of Da Vinci's first helicopter designs, black hawks, chinooks, and other engineering masterpieces, like the combustion engine that I loved to study. Once all my clothes were put away I made sure my phone charger was out and my I-Phone charging on the desk before I headed downstairs with a yawn.

My mom spotted me as I sat on a little chair near the island in the kitchen. She was icing my cake and I grinned as I dipped a finger in the bowl and licked the sweet liquid icing off my finger. Wrinkling my nose, I decided it needed to set some first. Mom swatted at my hand with the wooden spoon from the nearby pot as I shrugged at her innocently.

"What? I'm hungry, I drove for thirty-five minutes from the airport!" I defended myself. She just chuckled and shook her head.

"Why do you think I made you this?" she pushed a plate towards me and I looked down to see that there was a jam-packed ham, lettuce, and cucumber sandwich. A bubble of joy began to expand in my chest and I found that no words could describe how good it felt to be home with my family again. I had missed them so much and Mom's home cooking (even if it was just a sandwich) was a welcomed relief from microwave pizza and fries.

Picking it up I squished the bread between my fingers to flatten it out (a habit I'd had since I was little), pulled off the crust as I ate that first before getting to the rest of the sandwich. My mom watched me with adoring eyes as I sensed things were about to get soppy.

"It's good to know not everything about you changed." she said softly. My eyebrows rose in question as she laughed. "You're all grown up, Baby," she pointed the knife she was using to spread the icing at me playfully, but I could see the sadness in her eyes - her kids had grown up. Sam was preparing to leave the nest now and I was already gone technically; this was just a pit stop until I could set myself up in my own home.

"I'm still your daughter mom." I reminded her around a mouthful of sandwich. Covering my mouth, I stifled a yawn and jerked my thumb up behind me, finishing the last bite of sandwich. "I'm exhausted so...I'm going to turn in early." I admitted. She nodded a little and let me go, waving me away absent mindedly and muttering some sort of reminder to herself about icing flowers.

Snorting under my breath I shook my head and trooped up the stairs, frowning slightly when I realized I missed the odd creak you'd get three steps up when walking up to our apartment back at MIT - that was going to take some getting used to. Grabbing my pajamas, I looked at the clock, six in the evening. It was far too early to be sleeping but I'd had a long day and needed the rest since I'd spent most of last night packing and hadn't gotten much sleep anyway. Sighing I settled back under the covers of my bed, it was a strange contrast of smells with MIT and home mixing together. Hell, Cordelia's perfume still hung on my pillow but the smells all came from things I loved, and I fell asleep quicker than I thought I would.


	2. Chapter 2: A Shape-shifting Car

You know when you have a deep sleep and everything feels heavy? It'd been one of those kinds of sleep and thus, when I finally dragged myself out of bed I found that I was stumbling around for the next ten minutes as I tried to wake myself up. I took a quick shower in some frigid water to give myself the wakeup call I needed, brushing my teeth in the shower to before I got out and toweled off. Braiding my wet hair in a simple braid down my back I dressed in some relatively simple khaki coloured cargo shorts and my black converse, pulling on a white tank top and a baggy plaid blue over shirt. I looked a lot like a stereotypical tomboy mechanic but it didn't bother me half as much as it bothered Cordelia...I could already hear her screaming at me in my head to change. Entering the living room, I saw my parents sitting across the room from each other; Dad was nursing a mug of coffee and the local paper while my mom flicked through channels in boredom.

"Morning." I greeted as I tapped dad's shoulder. He looked up at me happily and pushed to his feet to pull me into a hug,

"Eliana!" he chuckled deeply.

"Please just call me Ellie!" I groaned at the use of my full name.

I hated my name, it was ridiculous and I had no clue what had possessed my mom to call me that. As if that wasn't bad enough my middle name was worse - Janelle. Who was called Eliana Janelle? Nobody! Well, me, I guess...

Dad just patted my shoulder and responded with a vague 'whatever you want honey' before his eyes glistened, "How's my favorite daughter?" he asked.

My eyebrows rose, "I'm your only daughter...speaking of little girls where's my baby brother?" I asked, glancing at the clock and frowning. It was one in the afternoon, surely, he was out of bed by now?

He rolled his eyes, "In his car of course." he answered. "But enough about Sam, I want you to tell me all about it, I want to see the degree!" he insisted, a childlike gleam of excitement in his eyes.

Grinning at him, I launched into my story with such enthusiasm I was bouncing around the room and making wild hand gestures as I explained all about the lectures, the lab work, Cordelia, and the other friends I'd made. He listened intently, enraptured with it all and his eyes glistening with pride when I lead him upstairs to show him the certificate I had already framed. He held it in his hands and stroked the frame I'd mounted it in.

"I'm so proud of you, baby girl." he murmured, looking at me with tear filled eyes.

Sighing I glared playfully at him, "Don't you start crying too. Mom already did that one yesterday." I warned.

He nodded, "Okay, no crying, scouts honor." he promised. "Want a hand with these boxes?" he enquired.

Nodding my head, I pulled out my radio first, setting it up in a heartbeat and blasting one of my dad's favorite songs that I had downloaded during a period of homesickness. We were soon singing loudly to Weird Al Yankovic while putting up ornaments, photographs I had taken and wanted to pin to my wall with thumbtacks, and setting up my flat screen TV - it was only twenty-two inches but it had a great picture. Finally, we packed away the things I couldn't fit in my room into the attic.

Standing in my room I admired our handiwork. It was still the same light pink it had been when I was nine and I knew I'd have to change that at some point, but all my old white wooden furniture was still here, holding my clothes with unwavering loyalty. My twenty-two-inch TV sat on top of my chest of drawers and posters of aircrafts, engines, and circuit boards were hanging everywhere. It had taken us almost three hours to straighten it all out but there was a long shelf attached to the wall now to hold all my books and manuals. Above my bed were all the pictures I loved such as the one of me holding Sam when he was born, and another of me and Cordelia mucking about in our apartment the first day we'd moved in.

My dad let out a melodramatic sigh, "I remember when we were hanging up little finger paintings in here."

Frowning a little I crossed my arms, "You and Mom have to stop with the whole 'I remember this and that.'" I said, feeling a little irked by it.

He smiled sadly as he retorted, "You'll understand when you have your own kids and they're ready to leave the nest."

We heard the bins being kicked and looked out of my bedroom window (that had a wonderful view of the street since it was at the front) to see an angry looking Sam walking straight towards the front door, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Hurrying down the stairs I skipped the bottom three.

"Sammy!" I yelled lunging for him. He fell back against the front door, barely catching me as we tumbled to the floor. Laughing I pinned him beneath me and ruffled his short hair. All he could manage to do was look up at me in shock.

"Ellie! You're back!" he exclaimed, sitting up with more strength than I remembered him having before and bear hugging me. "When did you get here?" he demanded with a grin.

"Last night, but I was tired so I had an early night." I shrugged, getting up off the floor and hauling him to his feet - he was now a whole three inches taller than me. My eyebrows furrowed, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did you get taller than me?" I asked.

He smirked, "Guess you can't push me around no more." he retorted, puffing out his chest. Rolling my eyes, I punched him in the gut, watching him double over with a huff of air.

"Yeah...sure." I agreed with my own almost identical smirk.

Me and Sam were both similar when it came to looks, we both had the same tan skin tone (though I was

admittedly a little less tanned than he was). We had the same shade of brown hair, only his was curlier than mine, mine being more limp and wavy - it was nothing overly special and I tended to keep it up out of the way anyway. Our eyes were the same sort of green/grey colour only mine was a little more green than grey. I noticed the stormy look in his eyes and remembered his angry kicking of bins incident outside.

"Now what's up little bro?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'm not little." he grumbled, pushing past me, and heading for the stairs. My dad frowned and I mouthed 'I got this' before I headed after him. My footsteps were silent on the stairs and he barely noticed me as I followed him into his room.

"We're heading out to your Nana's, she's not feeling well again!" Mom called up.

"Okay!" We yelled back in unison, Sam raising an eyebrow at me when he realized I was in the room.

"Bit inappropriate to walk in without knocking." he said but there was a hint of a smile on his lips. I rolled my eyes, I frowned at him, sisterly concern kicking in.

"Whatever Sammy, now what's wrong?" I demanded, my voice sharp and authoritative. He flopped down on his bed and I sat beside him, the two of us leaning against the wall together.

He glanced at me and shook his head, "Nah, you won't believe me," he muttered finally. His voice was deeper now and I sighed, realizing I'd missed so much in my time away.

"Try me Sam, I'm your sister. We stick together no matter what." I reminded him, holding out a hand. Smiling at me he looped his pinky around mine and shook it while I dropped my head on his shoulder.

"Okay, well...I met this girl I like and she's really hot and I let her take my car out for a ride and she's returning it later tonight and I really want to-" he rushed out word after word and they fell out of his mouth one after the other like a waterfall.

My eyebrows rose and a small smirk crawled up my lips. This girl - Mikaela - didn't sound all bad, but she was still another girl that my brother had interest in and my big sister jealousy flared. However, the puppy dog look in Sam's eyes was enough to convince me that she was half decent...my brother wouldn't settle for less. By the time, he finished and took a deep breath he was looking so sheepish you'd have thought I had caught him with his pants down.

"She sounds okay." I shrugged.

He frowned. "Any more helpful advice perhaps?" he asked sarcastically. I tilted my head, I pretended to ponder it.

"No." I stated bluntly. "Sammy if you like her take the risk, ask her out. You'll never know what could be if you don't try and make it happen." I told him wisely. Sam smiled a little and we heard a car engine rev outside. Sam got up and looked out of the window, his face turned white as a sly grin spread across my lips.

"It's Mikaela, isn't it?" I sung childishly.

Sam tried to deny it but he stuttered and turned beetroot red. I sprung up from my chair with a new-found energy I bounced downstairs. I heard him calling to me to get back and not open the door - but with a wide grin I yanked the door open and leaned casually against the doorframe.

"Hi." I greeted her. Mikaela blinked in surprise as she stepped back slightly as I took in her outfit. She was in an awfully small skirt and a tight top, a little too revealing for my tastes but hey, if she was comfy who was I to judge.

She shuffled awkwardly as Sam staggered down the steps behind me and pulled me away from the door, but I popped up behind him feeling determined to embarrass him further while he said an embarrassed hello.

"Sorry about my sister, she's got a... a mental condition." he lied.

I rolled my eyes at his comment. "I haven't, he's just embarrassed by me because I'm smarter than he is." I retorted as I slapped him upside the head. "Do you want to come in for a drink?" I asked her politely.

She shook her head, "No thanks...I err...I'm actually just going to go." she admitted looking apologetically at Sam. I grinned a little, using my hand to stifle my giggles as Sam banged his head against the door when it shut. He glared at me.

"I hate you." he grumbled.

I laughed, "Oh please, she'll be back before you know it and your crazy sister is your next conversation topic."

I ruffled his hair and he groaned, "Stop it already, god you're so irritating!"

Grinning wickedly, I moved into the kitchen, pulling things out of the freezer and putting them on the island. "Would an irritating sister make you bacon pancakes for dinner?" I quizzed him. He shot into the kitchen and sat obediently on a chair making me laugh, "Didn't think so."

I shot him a wink and he asked me the inevitable question. "Well, how was MIT?" So, I explained everything again to my little brother. He was six years younger than me but we were close as siblings could get, though since I'd been at MIT we'd not been able to talk as often. We ate and laughed over the pancakes (our favorite bonding treat.)

It was only when we checked the clock and saw it was far later than it should have been since Mom and Dad left that we realized we were most likely alone for the night. Neither of us were worried though since Nana was always ill nowadays and we knew she'd die eventually, however she was sort of a step-nan I guess after our grandpa remarried when I was five just before Sam was born - she'd never really liked our family. She turned to us only when she needed something and I hated how she took advantage of my parents' innocence like that. Evacuating to the living room after we'd put our plates away, we flicked through the channels before finally settling for the Xbox and putting in a good game of Call of Duty. I was winning (for the record) when we heard it, the engine revving outside. We turned to see Sam's battered old Camaro rolling away down the street.

"What the hell!" Sam exclaimed. We both jumped up and I grabbed my car keys from the hook. Hearing Sam lock the front door behind me as I jumped in my GTO and started the engine. "Go, go after it!" he urged.

Throwing it in gear I reversed fast, swinging us around and bolting after the car. Anger spiked through me and made my blood boil. How dare someone try to steal my brother's car! Breaking every speed limit, I raced after the car, but imagine my surprise when it fishtailed in the street and spun around so it was behind us instead. Narrowing my eyes, I slammed on the breaks, flinging both me and Sam forward in our seats. I was preparing to reverse when the car behind us started coming forward faster and faster, looking like he had no intention of stopping. Eyes wide and heart beginning to pound in my chest, I threw my foot down on the gas pedal and we lurched forwards, my eyes swiveled back to the road as I drove haphazardly through the streets away from the yellow and black Camaro. It was gaining on us however as I weaved in and out of the light traffic. We drove for what felt like hours; the sun was beginning to set and was burning the sky a bright orange as Sam gripped the dashboard.

"I'm so glad your back!" he screamed over the roar of the engine in my GTO. Snorting, I glared at the mirror.

"I didn't plan this!" I yelled back. My heart was beating hard in my chest and my stomach was in knots; we were in a high-speed chase with some whack-job who thought he could steal from my brother and I was regretting trying to help him now.

"I swear if I get points on my license for this!" I screeched as we sped towards the underpass that led to the old abandoned factory.

Sam screamed again, another high pitched girlish scream that had me groaning slightly - I didn't need him screaming right now since it was taking all my concentration to control the car. I almost hit a sleek black one, with red and blue lights on top. Yanking up the parking brake I spun my back end around until I was face to face with the police car, the Camaro speeding past. Taking a few deep breaths, I got out, hurrying towards the police officers.

"Hey! Hey!" I called out, hoping to gain their attention. Behind me I heard Sam get out and slam the door shut on my car. Wincing at the sound, I clenched my fists to stop my hands from trembling and looked back at the police officers.

"Hey pal! My brother had his car stolen and the lunatic making off with it just chased us half way across town! I don't know about you but, I think that warrants you getting out of the car!" I cried, flustered in my post adrenaline state.

Breathless, I stared incredulously at the tinted windscreen and narrowed my eyes, slapping my hand off the hood of the car angrily. Sam grabbed my hand and shook his head, silently letting me know I was going too far. Then his eyes widened as he pulled me back. We stumbled and ended up on the ground. The impact made my hands sting but I barely noticed, because in front of me the head lamps protruded from the police car with deadly looking metal claws surrounding them.

The brilliant beam was centered on Sam and myself and a shocked gasp escaped my lips. "No way." I whispered shakily.

Sam swallowed and we glanced at each other as the car revved and began backing us up. I backed up on my hands and feet like a crab. I gasped as I tryed to reclaim the breath the car had stolen. Was it even a car? I had no clue what to think anymore.

"Okay, okay, okay! What do you want from us? What do you want?!" Sam hollered, holding up a hand to protect his eyes from the bright light.

The car's head lamps retracted as it stopped trying to run us over. It did something I had never expected to see, something that made my heart stop. The car began to dislodge itself from its framework, molding itself into a new shape as metal plates slid and clicked into place, a helmet slid over to make a face until there was no longer a car before us, but a giant robot.

He had to be at least thirty feet tall with gleaming red eyes that screamed danger when coupled with its menacing looking claws. Sam and I clambered to our feet and ran straight past my car, because even though it killed me we'd be faster on foot right now.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Sam bellowed.

"I second that!" I yelled back, pumping my legs hard to carry me faster. Sam was suddenly flung out of the way, landing with a thump on a scrap car with such a harsh impact the glass below him cracked like a spider web.

Wincing, I skidded to a halt with my blood roaring in my ears as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing - everything about this was so wrong. So, so wrong. I was surprised my heart hadn't burst from my ribs it was beating so hard. I felt sick, physically sick as I watched the huge robot lean over my little brother. Images flashed before my eyes of Sam and I when we were both little, him running around as a little toddler and me helping him with his elementary school math homework. Was he actually about to be murdered by a giant robot?

"This has to be a dream," I whispered to myself. I knew it wasn't dreaming though.

The robot kept asking him the same questions, "Are you username ladiesman217," and "where are the glasses?" Panic rose inside me as I finally forced my brain to think logically.

The problem was, the engineer in me was wondering how on Earth this thing worked. Under different circumstances I would have given my right arm to study something like this, however, my brother's life was at stake and my anxiety surpassed my curiosity. I looked around desperately for anything that could help him and pulled a metal pipe off the ground. In desperation, I threw it at the robot, the loud clang of metal hitting metal pierced my ears as I felt dread well up inside me. Slowly, he turned and fixed his red eyes on me, the intense gaze caused me to shiver. Sam took the opportunity and scurried off the car, sprinting away from the robot who looked back at him. The robot tossed the car aside easily as if it were a toy, giving chase.

"Sam run! Run!" I screamed frantically as I sprinted to catch up.

My legs burned and lungs screamed for oxygen but, I refused to give in as I grabbed Sam's arm to let him know I was there and urged him to move faster. He gained a sudden burst of speed and he tackled a girl off her moped. A moped I had to leap over to stay on my feet. I stumbled as I landed and saw with a hint of amusement that it was Mikaela he'd tackled.

"What is your problem, Sam?" She groaned, rolling slowly onto her back, sitting up.

Doubling over, I placed my hands on my knees trying to calm my breathing. Okay, so there was a killer robot after us and I now had two minors to look after, how was the question. How was I supposed to look after them?

"Okay, there is a monster right there and it just attacked me!" Sam freaked, pointing back behind me. Turning on my heel I saw the huge black robot coming back for us, panic seeped into my veins.

Moving back, I placed myself between him and the kids. "And here he comes!" I cried.

Behind me I heard Mikaela hyperventilating as the robot crashed towards us. Out of nowhere the Camaro (Sam's Camaro) skidded past us, performing a perfect 180 and knocked the robot's feet out from under him before speeding back to loop around throwing its doors open for us. Sam tryed to coax Mikaela into the back but, I could see the robot wouldn't be down for long and decided to take charge.

"Get in the car or I'll throw you in!" I threatened.

Sam rolled in first and Mikaela scrambled in behind him, before I lunged forward and the door slammed shut behind me without me having to touch it. The squealing of tires filled my ears as we switched places so I was in the driver's seat. The car vibrated beneath us and with no seatbelts on we were like a balloon in a wind tunnel, being jostled from left to right and buffeting about all over the place. Mikaela chanted a rather pessimistic mantra of 'we're going to die' as Sam tried to calm her down, but he joined in too when we headed toward a glass window and didn't slow down. Even I screamed as we crashed through, burying my head in my arms to protect it as we sped through a warehouse. We crashed and broke through piles of wooden boxes and crates to perform another one-eighty and shoot back in the opposite direction. It took a little longer for the black robot (that was back to being a cop car) to get enough grip to stop his wheels spinning and zip after us. By this time, I braced myself against the dashboard and tried to reassure the frantic teens everything would be all right.

"It's going to be just fine; this car knows what it's doing!" I shouted, though I knew it did little to comfort anyone.

I swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the bile that rose in my throat and instead watched with morbid fascination as the pedals pressed downwards and the steering wheel turned without anyone touching them. My mind reeled with unanswered questions and sarcastic references to 'Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots'; how was this possible? Was this some form of large scale RCC project with someone controlling it from a distance? Was it advanced robotics? We raced through backstreets now on the outskirts of town. It was getting darker by the second and as the sun set I couldn't help but get this dreadful feeling that time was running out for us...or fuel. Heart beating fast I thought on my feet, having an idea of where we were. If we kept going down this road we'd get to the old factory I knew of. Yanking a hard left on the wheel I felt the car jerk where I wanted it to go, suddenly in control.

My foot slammed down on the pedal as Mikaela screamed, "What are you? A rally driver!" Sam shushed her.

My wide eyes were focused on the old factory and I flung us around, reversing quickly between two huge empty tanks and shut off the ignition. We waited in the darkness, watching as the police car rolled around idly to find us. Suddenly, there was a click. My head snapped in the direction of the locks to see them all pressed down and more gut wrenching panic made my nausea returned with a vengeance.

"We're locked in." Sam fretted, looking at me with wide eyes. My hands twisted the key in the ignition fruitlessly.

"The car won't start," I stated, though they probably already knew.

I prepared to hot wire the care when suddenly it sprung to life, and I lost control as it sped out past the police car and over a little bridge. I knew this bridge since I had come here when I was learning to drive with one of my first boyfriends; we'd raced through the abandoned factory to the junkyard beyond to do donuts on the abandoned land. We didn't make it that far though, because the car spun another one-eighty (apparently, it's favorite trick) and opened its doors, sending us flying out in different directions. I landed with a thud that sent a sharp jolt through my body and left an ache behind, knowing I'd be bruised in the morning.

I watched as Sam's Camaro transformed too. It flowed out and in again, moving through the motions like it was a dance routine until I stared at a thirty-foot yellow robot with arms, legs, and glowing blue eyes. I gasped slightly and darted between its legs to haul Sam and Mikaela off the ground. We all stared, breathing hard as the police car lunged and transformed back into its robot form. It reminded me of when you see werewolves jump as humans and land on all fours in the movies...except this was no movie.

It threw the yellow robot back but, Sam's transformed Camaro grabbed it like a sumo wrestler and they rolled off together, sparks flying as they grappled for dominance much like Sam and I used to grapple for control of the remote when we were little. The black robot stood back up and my heart leapt into my throat as I pushed Sam and Mikaela in the opposite direction. His claws were spinning, rotating fast like fan blades, looking sharp and deadly. To my surprise a little robot popped out of its chest area. It was silver in colour with two big, bug-like eyes and a metal snarl twisted on its features. It made a noise that sounded like something from the Gremlins movie and scampered towards us - it was pretty damn fast too. So, we were back to running. I pushed Sam and Mikaela ahead of me while listening to metal clashing on metal behind me. Sparks flew as loud crashes and bangs sound off as the robots destroyed everything that stood in their path. The tinkling sound of the little robot's footfalls as it chased us was deafening. However, because he was the threat right now I refused to let him take us down.

Adrenaline surged through my veins when I spotted the tool shed up ahead. I prayed there was something I could use in there, there had to be! Behind me I heard Sam screaming, "It's got me, it's got me!"

Not daring to look back I plowed on ahead as my aching feet crunched on the gravel. Breathing heavily, I scavenged the shelves of tools and found a battery-operated hand saw, perfect. Grabbing it from the shelf I pushed the button, hoping it still worked. The saw turned on with a buzz, causing my arm to shake some. Turning, I sprinted back outside to see Mikaela waving her arms madly at me and pointing down the small embankment beyond the chain-link fence. The junkyard was just beyond and Sam was pinned to the fence below us by the little silver bastard. Holding my breath, I stumbled down the embankment and came in at a sideways angle, slashing the saw into the metal of the robot's neck. It screeched, making a high-pitched wail as I brought the saw down again, and again until I had cut clean through its neck. It made terrible rasping noises as the saw died in my hands. Shock ran through me as the head bounced around without it's body.

"Not so tough without a head, are you?" Sam gloated, giving it a sharp kick that sent it flying. Its screams faded the further away it got, as the head disappeared so did my anxiety. Swallowing thickly, I dropped the saw and turned to the two kids.

"You okay?" I asked breathlessly.

All of us were panting for air now that the immediate danger was over. My muscles began to burn from overexertion, I would feel that later. Mikaela picked up the saw to arm herself and I let her have it, not wanting to deny her any chance she had at feeling safe. We paused for a moment to gather our breath, and then Sam lead us along the fence until we found a flatter part of the grassy mound to climb up. We stood watching the smoke as it cleared from the area above us. Just over that large pipe we'd be back in the factory but, I didn't want to see the damage we'd inadvertently caused.

"Sam let's get out of here," I insisted using my older sibling voice that he usually obeyed.

The big yellow robot that had once been Sam's Camaro came forward, and Sam stepped up slowly to greet him. It was then I realized he was only in his boxers. My hand flew to my mouth, covering my giggles. "Nice boxers Sammy." I teased. He flipped me the bird and carried on walking towards the robot.

"What is that?" Mikaela asked.

"A robot, like a different...super advanced robot." Sam answered.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Get away Sam, we don't know what it can do!" I ordered. He ignored me however. "Samuel," I hissed, concern for my brother shot through me, making my entire body stiffen.

"I don't think he wants to hurt us. He would have done it by now." Sam glanced back at Mikaela and I, causing me to scoff.

"What, do you speak robot? They just had a giant toy death match!" she spat, with a distrustful glare at the robot. Seeing there was no dissuading Sam, I inhaled deeply and began climbing up the slope with my brother to get a better look at the robot.

"I think it wants something from me, the other one kept talking about my eBay page," Sam explained.

We stood about thirty feet from the giant robot now. I stared up at it as if it held the answer to world peace.

"Can you talk?" I shouted up at it, unsure of whether it could hear me. There was a bunch of static before different voices sounded from various radio stations. "You talk through the radio?" I called up, questioningly.

The robot clapped, a loud clanging noise of metal on metal that made me wince a little. "Thank you, thank you, you're wonderful!" the radio declared. A small smile touched my lips. He had a sense of humor I'd give him that, not to mention he had just saved our lives.

"What was that last night?" Sam asked, sounding bewildered and irritated.

The robot changed stations so fast it was hard to keep up but I heard the end bit, "Visitor from heaven, hallelujah!" Mikaela pursed her lips in confusion.

"What, so are you like an alien or something?" she questioned.

To answer her question, the robot folded in on itself and changed back to the old beaten up Camaro, the hood clanging down with a final bang. "Any more questions you want to ask?" the radio robot enquired.

"It wants us to get in the car," Sam whispered, looking at me helplessly.

He wanted me to tell him what to do. How was I supposed to answer? My gut was telling me to go with this alien and to trust him, but this decision would affect not just my life but the lives of two teenagers. Sam placed a hand on my arm, silently exchanging a look with me that stated he would trust whatever decision I made. Mikaela however wasn't so happy.

"Are you nuts? And go where?" she demanded, looking between us.

I noted (with a hint of approval) that her short skirt had been swapped for tight jeans. She was getting there slowly. Maybe with less skin and more brains than I thought, and she'd be just perfect for my brother. Biting my lip, I inhaled deeply, calming my breathing and my racing heart before looking at

them.

"Fifty years from now when you're looking back on your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get into the car?" I asked her.

She shared a long, anxious look with me before heading up what remained of the embankment towards the car. Sam followed, sending me a small smile as we climbed up together. I shuffled over into the driver's seat and blew out a breath. "Thank you, for saving our lives." I said, awkwardly patting the dashboard.

The car revved in response and I found myself smiling. The engineer in me came out and replaced all my fear with curiosity, wonder, excitement. Sam and Mikaela curled up close together, finding comfort in one another's presence. While I curled my knees to my chest, discovering I had scraped it at some point during the hectic day. We were silent as the robot car drove us back home.

We passed through the tunnel when Mikaela suddenly asked, "I don't get it. If he's supposed to be this super alien why does he change back into this piece of crap Camaro?" My gasp had escaped me before the car even fully heard it. The tires screeched as we were suddenly thrown out onto the road. I groaned as my already bruised elbows hit the ground. The car sped away as we stepped to the side, traffic rushing past us and the cold night air wrapped around my exposed legs - I should never have worn shorts today. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself and clenched my jaw to stop my teeth from chattering.

"Great, now you pissed him off!" Sam grumbled, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly.

Rounding on her I glared, "Camaros are not crappy! They're classics! A little tune up, a new paintjob and he would have been a masterpiece!" I cried. Mikaela glared back as she opened her mouth to say something when Sam gasped, gaining our attention. We looked around to see a completely different car coming our way.

The paintjob was shiny and glossy but still yellow and black so, we knew it was our car, but he had changed completely. He was now a sleek brand new style of Camaro, one of the top of the range modern ones. My jaw dropped as he stopped in front of us, almost flaunting his new look. He waited patiently for us to get in and I eagerly hopped in the driver's seat, running my hands over the steering wheel. Everything was comfortable leather yet somehow Mikaela had ended up in Sam's lap in the passenger's seat. With a triumphant smile, she glanced my way as if to say 'I told you so,' before she settled back against Sam's chest, and I felt a small twinge of jealousy. It felt like my brother was being stolen from me but I couldn't complain after spending four years apart from him at MIT.

The best thing about our new car was that the robot waited for me to do the driving. I grinned, pushing my foot down slowly and easing my way out into the traffic. "I cannot believe I'm driving this!" I exclaimed, the awe evident in my voice since this car probably cost more than my student debt alone.

The car let me drive to the end of the tunnel before it took over again and I sat back in the driving seat, leaning my head against the window and allowing myself to relax. Glancing at the clock I grimaced, it was ten forty-five at night, and if Mom and Dad were home they sure weren't going be happy about this. To my dismay however, we weren't being driven home. In fact, in what I found to be a worrying turn of events, we were lead to a clearer part of town where there was nothing but fields behind us. Below us the town stretched out like a carpet of bright twinkling lights. Above us in the sky something was burning and streaked with flames lit up the night. Mikaela instinctively grabbed Sam's hand as I grabbed his. My brother squeezed my hand tightly and I hoped that meant he wouldn't let go.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting The Autobots

The fireballs crashed into the earth, the vibrations running up my spine and making me shiver. There was an impatient rev from behind us as the smoke died down in the fields. Turning around I saw the devestation caused in the city, three collumns of smoke dispersing through the air, one right in the middle of the stadium. Stifling a gasp I swallowed nervously, an uneasy feeling washing over me as we climbed back into the car, an awed silence had descended over us and nobody dared break it. My mind was reeling with thoughts, dizzying ones that made me want to throw up. Aliens, was it possible they were aliens? They had just fallen from the sky, out of the atmosphere, they had to be aliens. So I was in an alien car, an alien car that had just called his friends. A sudden thought struck me,  
"Sam you said they wanted something from you, what would they want?" I quizzed him, trying to piece it all together. Sam frowned a little at me,  
"I don't know." he admitted, "But they kept going on about my ebay page, so...maybe something off of that?" he suggested weakly. My eyes narrowed and I could sense there was something he wasn't telling me but I dropped it for now. Instead I let my eyes fall back onto the road, my eyebrows furrowed when I didn't recognise where we were.  
"Erm...this isn't the way to our house." I stated, hoping the car would pick up on it - if he did he didn't listen. Hitting the dashboard slightly I repeated my previous phrase and the car locked us in. The uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach like a giant weight and the anxiety I felt only grew worse when the car drove us down a deserted looking alleyway. At the other end of the alleyway I could see a whole host of cars coming towards us. The leader was a huge truck in red and blue. We stopped before it and Sam got out quickly, followed by Mikaela the moment the doors unlocked themselves. There was something compelling me to go after them but my fear had me frozen in my seat. The radio gave a soft whirr, as if telling me to get out to and slowly I climbed out after them. The alleyway was filled with deafening clicks, grating noises and rushes of air as metal slid against metal, folding and pushing until we were surrounded by more of these robots. All of them had blue eyes like the camaro that had transformed too. There were five of them in total, all in different colours ranging from canary yellow, to bright red and shiny silver. It was a fascinating yet terrifying sight.

The largest of them all had been the truck that now stood at least forty feet above us and knelt down to get his face close to us. The night breeze caressed our skin and I shivered involuntarily. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears and my stomach was twisting so tightly I felt nauseous.  
"Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" the...he, it, asked. His voice was deep with a sort of static like undercurrent but still more smooth than Siri on your I-Phone sounded. Part of me would have killed to take a look at what made these things tick but my only concern was keeping the two teenagers with me safe right now. Pulling on Sam's arm I pushed him and Mikaela both behind me slightly, making the robot squint at me.  
"Yes." Sam squeaked from behind me. Looking at him over my shoulder I shot him my infamous shut up glare and prayed he'd stay silent.  
"Elliana Janelle Witwicky, sister of Samuel James Witwicky, we mean your brother no harm." the robot promised. Narrowing my eyes I stood firm,  
"I'll believe it when I see it." I retorted, my voice not wavering once.  
"I am Optimus Prime." the robot introduced himself and I felt the engineer in me give a curious tug. They had names? "We are autominus robotic organisms from the planet cybertron." Optimus continued and I felt my jaw drop. They were from a different planet!  
"But you can call us Autobots for short." the other yellow robot said. He had red markings on so I knew it wasn't Sam's camaro.

Swivelling my head back and forth I made a mental note of everything I saw, wondering if I'd ever get to study these things in depth at all. They were remarkably beautiful in design, no doubt about it.  
"What's cracking little bitches?" Spinning on our heels we turned to see a grey autobot doing various flips and jumps in the air.  
"This is my first lieutenant, designation Jazz." Optimus informed us. My eyebrows rose, designated? So they weren't allowed to choose their names then.  
"This looks like a cool place to kick it." Jazz commented, who proceeded to pretend he was sweeping someones legs from under him and jumped up on an abandoned car, reclining on it like it was an arm chair and resting a metal elbow on his knee. Sam swallowed,  
"What, how'd he learn to talk like that?" he asked, sounding confused. Optimus stood up then, and I had to crane my neck uncomfortably to see him.  
"We learned Earth's languages through the world wide web." he answered. So far they'd been very honest and I had to admit that if I trusted anyone right now it was Optimus, he seemed like he had a moral compass that was pointed in the right direction at least. He gestured to the other silver autobot closest to Sam. "My weapons specialist, Ironhide." I watched as the autobots arm spun and he aimed huge canons and guns at my brother. I glared at the autobot, placing myself between them while my heart skipped a beat.  
"You feeling lucky punk?" Ironhide asked. His voice was more gravelly than Optimus' but Optimus Prime had more of an authorititive air about him, his voice clear and calm in order to give instructions I imagined.

Glacing at the weapons I looked into the autobots eyes.  
"Put them away dude, not cool." I kept my voice calm but the underlying threat was clear - there would be hell to pay if he hurt my brother.  
"What are you going to do about it?" Ironhide challenged. me My face paled, I had no comeback for that. What could I do against an alien robot? There was a chuckle from behind me.  
"You're alright." Jazz stuck a large shiny thumb up at me and a bewildered smile crossed my face for second before I schooled it back into a mask of calm.  
"Easy Ironhide." Optimus spoke warningly, like a farther scolding his children.  
"Alright, I was only joking, I just wanted to show him my canons." Ironhide said and if it was possible, he sounded innocent, like a child. My nerves vanished, there was nothing scary about these autobots and they were actually kinda nice. But still my whole body remained tense because there was no gurantee they still wouldn't hurt us. So many questions were unanswered, like how did he know my name, Sam's name? Did he know Mikaela too? What did they want from us? Sam let out a breathless laugh as we turned to the last robot, the yellow and red one.  
"Our medical officer, Ratchet." Optimus seemed to sense our curiousity and introduced the last autobot. Ratchet also had a deep voice (though not as deep as Ironhides) but his was more wise than threatening.  
"The boys pheremone levels suggests he wishes to mate with this female." he revealed. My nose wrinkled and I slowly slid to the left.  
"That's...wrong, so, so wrong. Keep it in your pants Sam." I warned him. Mikaela scratched the back of her head, looking away awkwardly while Sam pulled his signature 'goddamit I've been caught' face, his features twisting into an ugly half grimace half frown.

Optimus gestured with a gigantic hand to the transformed camaro, and we turned to look at him.  
"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee." he said as Bumblebee began shadow boxing, I couldn't help but smile because in his own little way, he was kind of cute. His radio was playing some song I'd never heard of but the lyrics were well fitting. Second to none - he certainly had been when driving earlier. Ratchet fired a laser at him and I flinched when he made a robotic wince and put his hand to his throat, coughing.  
"His vocal processor was damaged during battle. I'm still working on him." Ratchet admitted. Sam and I glanced at each other, a silent moment of agreement pasing between us that there was no way any of this would get back to mom and dad. Mikaela stared up at Optimus, hesitance and distrust in her eyes,  
"Why are you here?" she asked quietly. Optimus tilted his head down to look at us and there was a mechanical click as he did so. I was grateful my bones didn't crack like that.  
"We are here for the all spark, and we must find it before Megatron." Optium replied. Sam and I both frowned,  
"Mega-what?" we asked in unison. Optimus sighed slightly, pressing his fingers to his forehead and pressing something. Suddenly little beams were shooting out of his eyes, and the ground below us began to crack until we were split up on three seperate parts of pavement and I stared in wonder through the cracks at the lava below. Then, metal structures began to rise up around us as Optimus told us the story of how there once peaceful world was betrayed by Megatron, the leader of the decepticons. I assumed they were the bad guys. Anyone who fought against them was destroyed until their war had destroyed their planet and the all spark had been lost. Megatron had followed it to earth when he was discovered by Archibald. Me and Sam stared at one another, a disbelieving curt chuckle escaping us,  
"Our great great grandfarther." Sam sounded a little incredulous but listened as intently as I did to the story.  
"It was an accident that intertwined our fates." Optimus answered. I felt my heart give a litte tug, there home had been destroyed by war and they had nowhere to go now - I couldn't and didn't want to imagine how that must feel.

Optimus continued with the story, telling us how Megatron had crash landed before retrieving the cube and Archibald had accidently activated the navigation system, imprinting a map on his glasses.  
"Wait, how do you know about his glasses?" Sam cut in. Optimus blinked, the blue light in his eyes extinguishing for a moment as metal lids came down over them.  
"Ebay." he replied. Then it clicked. I gasped a little and smacked Sam's arm hard. The projection of Cybertron had disappeared as I repeatedly whacked my brother, anger welling up inside me.  
"How dare you!" I hissed, "You, stupid, great, idiot." I hit him between each word and Mikaela watched with wide eyes. Sam stumbled back, looking at me as though I were a wild animal and holding his arms up to protect myself.  
"What! I didn't think anyone would miss them!" he exclaimed. My eyes widened and I rolled them incredulously,  
"Oh that's okay then isn't it? Nobody'll miss a family heirloom!" I snapped. "That doesn't belong to you Sam! You should have asked all of us first, it's great great grandad Archibalds glasses, they've been handed down through generations!" I ranted, letting out all my frustration.

How could he try and sell something so valuable to all of us on Ebay? Clenching my fists I inhaled sharply and looked away, "Okay so this all spark...how can we be sure that you're the right person to give it to?" I asked uncertainly. Optimus blinked again and the other autobots remained silent.  
"You have every reason to distrust us." Optimus agreed and I was a little suprised he had. Despite my question I couldn't help but feel I already knew the answer. He'd given me no reason not to trust any of the autbots as of yet and there was something in my gut that was telling me to trust them. I mean, even the name sounded wrong for the Decepticons, why would you trust something that had a name looking like deceit? Optimus folded his massive arms over his chest, metal clicking and whirring as he did so, starring down at me through those blue eyes. They were just glowing lights but they were so wise and... _old._ It was like looking at your grandad who was telling you all about the second world war or something, and I felt a huge amount of respect swell up inside me. "I think you know the answer." Optimus said calmly.

Slowly, I nodded and pulled in a deep breath. They needed help (our help) and if possible we had to give it to them.  
"I don't suppose you're willing to give us a lift back to our house? If we can find the glasses they're all yours." I decided. Optimus nodded and thanked me in his robotic voice. Sam frowned at me,  
"How is this different to me wanting to sell them?" he protested. My eyebrows rose,  
"Because I'm not doing it to earn petty cash. I'm doing it to try and prevent an alien war." I retorted, "And I'm still mad at you." I added afterwards, just to reinforce the idea. Mikaela smirked a little and I heard all the whirring, clicking and grating again, and by the time I looked around the autobots were all back in their car forms. Bumblebee had his doors open and waiting for us but Jazz flashed his lights and I pursed my lips. He was a beautiful looking car and now I looked closer I could see he was a gorgeous, brand new Pontiac Solstice. Still unhappy with Sam I bit my lip and patted his hood lightly, feeling a connection with the smallest of the autobots. "Hey, er...Jazz? Can I ride with you please?" I asked hesitantly. There was a moments pause before his drivers side door opened and I had to bite back a smile. As I sat back, my body falling easily into the comfy leather, I sighed contentedly. Jazz shut his own door and hurried off after his friends. He ran like a dream too, engine purring and smoothly running across the tarmac while I settled back into my seat, letting myself relax slightly. The radio clicked on and a slightly rocky-punk number came on. Grinning I laughed,  
"Nice taste Jazz...thanks for letting me ride with you." I rubbed my hand over the dashboard and the car revved a little in response. Turning up the volume on the radio I sang loudly, letting all the tensions melt away. "Oh! Wake me up, say enough is enough! I'm dying to live! Something's gotta give!" Jazz was following Bumblebee and the ride home seemed short compared to everything else that had happened today. The ride here (despite the speed we'd been going at) had felt much slower,maybe because I was fearing for my life.

Perhaps this was what they called acceptance? I'd gotten past my fear of the autbots now I knew they were harmless and actually felt safe sitting inside Jazz. Well, safer than any other car I'd sat in. We pulled up outside of my house and I directed Jazz around to the backyard. He was the smallest of the autobots and it was relatively easy for him to slip around. What I saw made me bite my lower lip nervously. The autobots had transformed and were now stood, towering above our house, in the backyard. I hoped mom and dad weren't back. Climbing out of Jazz I absent mindedly ran my hand over his hood and heard him transform behind me, the sound making me jump a little.  
"Sam you know your room best, get up there and find those glasses and I swear to god if I start hearing anything other than the sounds of rummaging clothes coming from your room I'll castrate you." I promised. He gulped and lead Mikaela by the hand into the house. Rolling my eyes I turned my head to the autbots. "Is this a bad time to ask how you guys work?" I asked sheepishly, blushing a little. The autobots looked at one another, "I'm an engineer, I design technology, engines, study them. I'm curious." I admitted. Jazz cocked his head,  
"Babe we're autbots, not laptops." he shrugged his huge shiny shoulders and I saw the light glinting off of them. A small brow furrowed my eyebrows together and I realised that for the sake of remaining discreet, I should probably turn off that light.

* * *

 _ **Hey everybody!**_

 _ **For anybody who might have seen it before I put the error right I apologise, this is the real chapter 3. For anybody who didn't then I hope you've enjoyed the first few chapters of Bring The Rain. It's a slow burn romance I guess between my character - Ellie - and Will Lennox, but for the first transformers movie they will just be forming thier friendship...with a bit of shameless flirting and fluff towards the end.  
Thank you,  
JessBubble :)**_


	4. Chapter 4: Here Come The Men In Black

Optimus had at least answered a few of my questions while we waited for Sam to find the glasses. They had explained how they were powered by something called a spark, it sent power to their systems and was kind of like the human heart really - only mechanical and not organic. I had listened with rapt attention of course when Ratchet had explained some of the more complex things about how they were put together and how he had fixed certain injuries to their eye sockets and guns. When silence fell again I checked my watch, realising they'd been in Sam's room for ten minutes and seemed no closer to finding those damn glasses. "Where the hell are they?" I muttered to myself. "I'm going to go and check on them...please try and stay hidden incase the neighbours see." I pleaded before hurrying indoors. I was climbing the stairs, hearing Mikaela and Sam arguing in hushed tones when my eyes flickered to mom and dads door and I noticed the snoring. Great, so they were home and in bed, just what we needed. Knocking on the door quietly I entered Sam's room. "What's taking so long?" I whispered, glancing between them suspiciously. Sam groaned quietly and gestured to his room. There were clothes everywhere, books scattered about an a copy of some sort of dirty magazine grasped in an irritated looking Mikaela's hand. Sam snatched it and stuffed it back under his matress. His bed had been pulled apart and all his drawers emptied but there was no sign of the glasses yet. "How do you find anything in here?" I asked, genuinely shocked. He rolled his eyes,  
"You sound like mom, now shut up and help me find them." he hissed. Nodding, I grabbed the nearest handle I could find and ripped open the draw, gagging when I saw it was his underwear.  
"You can take this one." I decided. I pushed him into my spot and moved away to his desk, scrabbling through the paper and scattered pens with my eagle eyes.

Something was thumping quietly and I could hear it steadily growing louder until the lights outside flickered. There was a rumble and a loud bark and I looked out the window curiously, eyes widening at the devastation outside. Dad's garden was completely ruined. Tyre marks were etched into the grass, creating muddy streaks where there should have been a vibrant green carpet, dads pathway was covered in bits of grass and the fountain at the end of it was smashed to pieces. Oh and did I mention Ironhide had canons pointed at Mojo? Mojo being the family freakin' chihuahua! A chihuahua with a broken leg! "Ironhide no, put it away!" I hissed out of the open window, groaning and sprinting down the stairs as quietly as I could. I dashed out and picked up Mojo from the ground, hushing the yappy little dog. "Ironhide stop! It's just our dog!" I stared up at him wide eyed as he slowly pulled his arm back.  
"The rodent lubricated on me." his deep voice resonated in my ears and I bit my lip, hiding a smile.  
"Mojo you can't go peeing on things." I scolded the little dog and pushed him towards the house. He trotted off as fast as he could, cast thumping against the floor as he ran away...I wondered briefly if there was counselling for dogs. Ironhide flipped his canon up and Ratchet stepped back to give him room - straight back into the powerlines above our house. All the autobots tensed and moved as though it were a threat, the ground vibrating with their movements and the electricity flowing through the cables into Ratchet, his armour rippling with blue electric current as the loud fizzling sounds ended in an explosion of sparks. Suddenly, I was snatched from the floor and a scream escaped my lips as I gripped tightly to the cold metal, my eyes wide and chest constricting in a panic.

The whole backyard went dark then, and so did the house. From my vantage point I could see that the neighbours houses had been plunged into darkness too. Groaning quietly, I looked up to see Jazz staring down at me, if it was possible he looked concerned,  
"You okay babe?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. Nodding curtly I scowled,  
"Yeah...but please don't call me babe." I answered with a roll of my eyes.  
"Sure thing sugar." he shot back, and I could swear he was smirking at me. He was pretty quick I couldn't deny that. I was now perhaps twenty feet in the air, standing in his hand and staring down at the carnage that used to be my backyard. Sam's head popped out the window and I heard the two words I really didn't want to hear,  
"Mom and dad!" My eyes widened.  
"You guys need to hide!" I panicked. Jazz put me down, hiding himself behind a tree while the others lumbered away to try and find somewhere for their large forms to hide while I scrambled to the back door and called up,  
"I'm checking the main breaker now." I waited for the longest three seconds of my life before I heard my dads voice call back,  
"Okay honey, be careful!" Exhaling slowly, I turned around and thanked whatever omnipotent being was out there that there wasn't an autobot in sight - I just prayed dad didn't see the wreckage that used to be his garden. Inside I could hear a ferocious pounding on Sam's bedroom door and mentally prayed he wouldn't let them in.

Pursing my lips I waited, listening intently as Dad demanded furiously that Sam open his door - since the house was so silent I could hear every word that drifted down the stairs and when I heard mom mention masturbating I swallowed and tried not to throw up. Not a mental image I needed! Then, there was a knock on the front door. Being the closest to it, I hurried back inside the house, called out that I'd get it and headed towards the door. On the other side was a group of men that I hadn't spared a thought to but very quickly began to fear - the very official looking men in black. The leader at the front of the pack had short, curly black hair, a rather long and crooked nose with beady looking brown eyes that narrowed on me and an air of arrogance about him that I immediately disliked.  
"Is this the Witwicky residence?" he asked me in a nasally voice, cocking an eyebrow. My eyebrows furrowed and my heart began to beat harder in my chest; I had to get rid of them.  
"Yes, is everything okay?" I questioned. He had already pushed past me by the time he had asked if he could come in and ignored my question completely, leaving me flustered and paralysed in the doorway. Mom and dad were walking down the stairs and my stress levels were rocketing upward, a sudden rush of adrenaline was the only thing that got me moving. The group of men stood in the living room and I spotted the black hummers and government cars outside with a grimace, knowing this could be nothing good. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled slowly before turning and following them into the living room, catching sight of Sam and motioning discreetly for him to hide the glasses in his hand. He did so quickly, shooting me a questioning glance as we all entered the living room together. Two of the three men with us were in heavy looking combat gear and I didn't fancy finding out how hard he could hit.

Mom and dad were frowning and looking back at me as I shrugged casually, trying to pretend everything was fine and not look insulted that they thought this had something to do with me. This wasn't happening...surely not, there was no way they could know of the autobots affiliation with us when they'd only just arrived on the damn planet!  
"Are you Sam? Samuel Witwicky?" the nasally voiced man asked. Sam hesitantly nodded.  
"What's this about? Did he do something wrong?" Dad asked, looking concerned. I moved closer to Sam, my gut instinct being to protect man ignored him and that irritated my dad beyond belief but he held his tongue, sensing how serious the situation was apparently.  
"Direct contact I think." one of the men in combat gear said as a machine bleeped.  
"Son step forward please." the leading man requested politely. The machine started bleeping faster and Mikaela stared at him with wide eyes. Sam gulped a little and I swallowed thickly, my throat closing up. Though my heart was racing in my chest I struggled to keep my breathing even, trying not to let them see how worried I was now. "14 RADS, take him and check the girls." nasally voice ordered. Sam was quickly lead outside as they scanned Mikaela while my eyes widened, heart thumping hard and stomach churning with concern.  
"No! You can't do that, what's he under arrest for!" I cried, hurrying into the hallway. Another man in a suit stopped me and he pinned me against the wall, yanking my arm up behind my back painfully; I grit my teeth together in pain. Wincing, I tried not to thrash or struggle but he still didn't release me despite my compliance. My ears were ringing as the nausea began to make an appearance, this couldn't be happening, there was no way I was about to be arrested by federal agents for meeting aliens. Wow I sounded crazy. I caught mom and dad's eyes and noticed that they looked furious (and anxious of course) as they demanded to know what was happening.

Mikaela walked past us, escorted out by a guard with a tight grip on her upper arm and she exchanged a panicked glance with me as the machine hovered near my body, bleeping erratically.  
"Her too." Nasally voice ordered and I was dragged up off of the wall, roughly shoved out of the front door and down the little path of our drive until my feet tangled underneath me and tripped me up. The guard let go of my arm so I could catch myself as I fell and I ended up scraping my hands, the sting running through my skin and fuelling an angry fire that was beginning to burn in my gut. The tight grip was back on my arm again, hauling me to my feet and dragging me towards one of the government cars. Glaring at my escort, I ducked as he shoved me into the back of a car - the windows were tinted and I was certain the childlocks were on. The door slammed and the car shook with the force of it.  
"What are we going to do?" Sam hissed, staring at me in a panic. With wide eyes I slowly shook my head, indicating I had no idea.  
"Just keep the glasses safe and hidden." I muttered as nasally guy and a baldy slid in. Mom and dad were being spoken to by a man at the door while desperately trying to get out to us, but we were already being driven off. Desperately I looked around for anything I could use to help get us out of here, but of course I found nothing. Mikaela was glancing between me and Sam, looking alarmed by the sudden change in events. Taking a few shaky breaths I tried to talk some sense into the men in front. "Look we can't be under arrest, you haven't read us our rights and we've done nothing wrong." I insisted.

Nasaly voice turned to look at me briefly before focusing back on the road we were flying down, the empty roads allowing us to speed away until we were coming up to the highway that lead us out of Southgate to the rest of Southern California. Finally, he opened his mouth and explained it all,  
"Yes you have, you've been doing bad things and did you know you're actually with a criminal? Yes missy I'm talking about your criminal record, interesting company you keep." Nasally voice spoke sarcastically. My eyes widened in shock, Mikaela had a criminal record? Well that would have been nice to know earlier! "Yes yes you've caused quite a lot of trouble. Director Seymour Simmons of Sector seven, we're the government miss Witwicky, so when we tell you you're under arrest, you better believe it." Simmons shot me a cocky grin and I could tell he was pleased with himself for getting one up on me. I leaned back into the chair, trying to absorb the new information while he relentlessly grilled Sam about believing in aliens. Suddenly, there was a crunching sound and the windows shattered inwards. A small cut stung on my arm and I struggled to throw my arms up in time as the car jolted to a halt. A large metal finger slithered in through the broken window on both sides and my heart skipped a beat, they were here to save us. A sigh of relief escaped me but a scream ripped from my lips as we were lifted off of the ground. Gripping the car door tightly I braced my hand against Mikaela's shoulder, who was leaning on me heavily and almost crushing me into the door panel. The agents infront were screaming and shouting and balling, unable to tell what was going on. There was the groan of metal as it began to tear and crack under the pressure of the autobots hand and I felt my eyes widen. "Hold onto something!" I yelled, gripping the door handle tighter. Mikaela grabbed onto me and buried her face in my shoulder, not wanting to see what was going to happen next.


	5. Chapter 5: Rescue Bots

The moment the car dropped I felt my stomach plummet, a wave of nausea sweeping over me. A scream escaped my lips and for a moment the deafening clang of the car hitting the floor was all that filled my ears; tinkling glass as it it hit the floor and the sound of the roof skittering away as it was discarded by the autobots deafened me. The light from the torch on Optimus's chest was blinding and I couldn't see properly - when he did turn it off I had little black spots dotting my vision. A stunned silence filled the car before Sam's cocky voice said,  
"You're in for it now A-holes. I'd like you to meet my friend." Turning my body towards him I slapped him upside the head, giving him a pointed look to shut up. Now was not the time to be getting cocky. Standing, I clambered out of the car just as Optimus said,  
"Taking the humans was a bad move." his voice was rumbling deep in his metal chest and more threatening than I'd ever heard it sending a shiver up my spine. The moment my feet hit the tarmac I was grabbed and roughly shoved to the floor, pinned awkwardly underneath the heavy weight of one of the government guards. Grunting, I thrashed underneath the man as the click of guns sounded - they were all aiming at Optimus. The autobot ignored them all, picked the man off of me and gently pulled me up to sit on his shoulder, the cold metal making me shiver when it hit my bare legs.  
"Thank you." I breathed, massaging my shoulder where it had impacted the floor and was aching.

Optimus tilted his head slightly,  
"Autobots, relieve them of their weapons." He ordered. Suddenly Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Jazz had all come into the area, swinging from the bridge and transforming into their robot forms so they towered above the humans threatening us. Jazz took me carefully from Optimus's shoulder and held me gently in his hand as the weapons were pulled from the hands of the humans by means of a powerful magnet. A small grin touched my lips, boy Simmons didn't look happy and it was making my day. Optimus leaned down, his face close to Simmons who paled visibly and shrank back slightly. "You do not seem shocked to see us." Optimus commented. Nodding my head I watched the scene unfold from my vantage point in Jazz's hand, swinging my legs back and forth and keeping a close eye on my brother. Mikaela (I had decided) wasn't all bad, because as they got out of the car I heard her tell my brother her record was because she hadn't been willing to hand over her farther. A small bud of guilt bloomed in my chest and I decided to go a little easier on her - she was an alright girl I supposed. Shaking my head, I snapped myself out of my thoughts when Jazz lowered me down,  
"Easy sugar." he chuckled when I stumbled a little. I rolled my eyes,  
"Thanks Jazz." I patted his hand before he pulled it up and allowed me to join my brother in tieing up the guards, they all had zip ties on them so it wasn't too hard.

When it came to Simmons, I reluctantly let Mikaela have some fun with him. She stood infront of him, in her snug jeans and denim jacket, arms folded over her chest and a stern look on her face.  
"Come on, get it off." she instructed. Simmons looked preplexed, and perhaps a little disgusted. "Your clothes, all of them off, now." she ordered, this time much more insistant. He begrudingly began to strip and I laughed when I saw his vest and underwear - it was so cliché nerd it was unreal.  
"Oh man, I've seen it all now." I giggled and Mikaela smirked at me.  
"You know this is a felony." Simmons snapped, looking furiously embarrassed and righteously angry with us. She ordered him to turn around and cuffed him to the pole he was standing by, still in nothing but his underwear with his clothes out of reach. Looking up I exhaled slowly, feeling my nerves slowly melt away. The sky was black now, speckled with little stars and the moon hung like a silver button in the sky, watching over us as things began to calm down. Sam stood beside us and I smiled in relief; he was barely scratched at all and we were all okay. Then, Ironhide said the one thing that made all the tension come back to my stiff muscles,  
"Optimus, we have incoming!" he threw his fist into the ground, almost knocking me off balance as the ground trembled violently. My heart jumped into my throat and my stomach twisted again as I watched an EMP roll in a blue wave over the tarmac and under the cars. The SUV's that had been heading towards us suddenly veered off course, the EMP knocking them out a little and slowing them down.  
"Autobots roll out!" Optimus commanded. Then, he got down on one knee and held out a huge hand. "Up you get." he encouraged. Without hesitating I climbed into his hand, pulling Mikaela up with me as Sam clambered up on the other side. He placed them on his left shoulder, me on his right and I gripped the cool metal so tightly my knuckles turned white and it cut into my hands before he began to run - great loping steps that seemed to stretch for miles sent earth shattering vibrations through him and jostled me until I almost fell off. He was on the street then, jumping over cars and lorries as easily as if he were playing a game of leap frog. Darting down an alley he made his way to a bridge, there was an underpass that he quickly slipped down into and his hands gripped the concrete above securely.

Two choppers were headed our way and with the agility of a cat, the huge metal man swung his back legs up so he was up in the underbelly of the bridge, invisble to the choppers that flew beneath us. I bear hugged the metal, feeling my shorts slip at the sudden movement and lower me furthur down, the beating of the chopper blades sending a blast of icy wind up at me. Sam and Mikaela looked over at me and I sent them what I hoped was a reassuring smile.  
"Easy you two." I murmered as the choppers passed underneath us and then came back for a second round. But then the unthinkable happened...Mikaela slipped. My heart stopped as Sam caught her, his hand tightly gripping hers like his life depended on it.  
"Sam, Sam I'm slipping!" she screamed.  
"Hold on!" Sam yelled back desperately. Thinking fast I tried to climb over Optimus's shoulders to get to them but my own foot slipped, and we all went tumbling down together towards the concrete fifteen feet below. Screaming I closed my eyes, the wind that whipped my cheeks beginning to sting some, but I never hit the ground. However,I did hit something equally as hard that knocked the air out of my lungs. Bumblebee. Looking up I gasped, drawing in deep breaths as I tried to breathe around the winded feeling that had tightened my chest. Bumblebee landed with a thump on his back, skidding across the concrete floor with us in his hands before he gently let us down. The choppers were circling around, coming back for us and I felt like a cornered mouse.

Not sure of what else I could do I ran over to Sam and Mikaela, checked they were both okay and protectively pushed them behind me. They fired a harpoon and Bumblebee winced through his damaged vocal chords, turning drunkly when the chopper dragged his arm to the left. They grabbed both his arms with harpoons, spining him around and shooting his leg to bring him to the floor. I gasped as they jerkily twisted him around, giving him a smiliar look to a fish in the barrell as it flopped about in an effort to find water. He tried to fight back but the foreign weaponary was too bulky for him to move and he couldn't get back to his feet.  
"No! No he's not fighting back!" Sam hollered as we were ordered to get on our knees. Slowly, I sank to the floor and put my hands behind my head, tears welling in my eyes. This was it. We were going to be arrested, imprisoned for life, or worse...shot on sight. But we were roughly shoved to the floor and handcuffed. Mine were too tight and I could feel the cold metal digging into the skin but it felt like I had much bigger problems than that. Mikaela was gasping for air, trying to vocalise her displeasure at Bumblebee's treatment but all that came out were sad sighs and breaths of air that she couldn't quite make into words. Bumblebee stared back at us and I stared at him, the autobot that had saved us so many times in the last day, the autobot that had come back for us even though he didn't have to, the autobot they were dousing in some sort of freezing gas to immobilise as we stood by and let it happen. The tears that were building up stung my eyes when they mixed with the chilly night air but I forced them back. He didn't deserve this, Bumblebee was too good for this to happen to him. He needed help and I was angry and upset that Optimus didn't step in and help is comrade. Lurching forward suddenly, I sprinted forward and shouldered one of the men spraying him to the floor,  
"Stop it! He's not trying to hurt you!" I bellowed, but nobody listened of course. Bumblebee gave a pitifull whine behind me, it sounded like he was whimpering and it made the tears spring up again but once more I forced them down. Somebody grabbed me from behind, yanking me back roughly and holding my arm so tightly I was sure there would be bruises. I was hauled back towards the recovered SUV's, their red and blue lights flashing and branding the image into the back of my eyelids.

In a bit of a daze, I walked straight past Simmons (not hearing whatever it was he said to me) and allowed them to shove me into the back. I was in a seperate SUV to Sam and Mikaela. I couldn't look after my brother anymore, I couldn't save Bumblebee...why was I even in on this crazy thing? I was useless! Swallowing thickly, I leaned my head back against the headrest, realising that if I was going to do any good I needed to be more serious. This wasn't a kiddies game, this was a real life war about to happen on my planet. Inhaling deeply I held my breath for a few moments before I slowly exhaled, trying to calm down. I was panicked and afraid, thinking irrationaly, and that wouldn't help anyone. The SUV rumbled to life and we drove in silence, the only noise was the vague and distant static of the radio as the Sector 7 men spoke to one another. Bumblebee had been neutralised, frozen and ready for transport. It made my heartbreak, rembering how he had whimpered, how he had looked at me with those blue eyes as though I might have been his saviour. Shaking the disturbing thoughts away I watched as another helicopter came into sight. My eyebrows furrowed, where were they taking us that required a helicopter? They dragged me out, placing two armed men either side of me, Mikaela and sam as they handed us those funny headphones you always get in choppers. Pulling them on I stepped in, letting Sam sit by his girl. He glanced at me worriedly, it wasn't like me to be so silent but I had nothing to say, nothing I could think of saying to make this okay. So, I let my head rest against the window and closed my eyes, listening to the steady roar of the chopper blades above me, ignoring everyone around me as I focused on the one important thing. I needed to sleep. Being fresh and alert would help me make better choices, but the thought of having to make any choices at all terrified me more than anything.


	6. Chapter 6: We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Somebody was shaking my shoulder. My eyes snapped open, images from the night before flooding into my mind and making me jump and move away from the hand incase it was unfriendly. Turns out it was just Sam, there was nobody in this SUV but him. Wait, hadn't we been in a chopper? Sam seemed to read my mind,  
"Hey...you fell asleep so when they moved us, I made them pick you up so you could keep sleeping." he said softly, grey eyes studying me closely. Nodding slightly I sat up straighter and slid out of the car, rubbing my wrists and finding little red rings where the handcuffs had previously been. "You okay?" Sam asked lowly as I stared in awe at th scene before me.  
"Fine." I breathed. The sun was beating down, it's golden rays showing no mercy as they boiled against my skin to heat me up from the inside out. The sky was a crystal clear blue and infront of me was a huge brick wall, curving down through a valley and surrounding a hyrdo-electric powerplant, behind it was a ginormous reservoir to hold the water it needed to work. "Holy shit...Hoover Dam." I whispered, eyes wide as I drank in every detail. At least my shorts came in handy here - it was damn hot and with little breeze the heat was soon stifling and suffocating. As we walked I pulled the braid out of my hair, running my fingers through it while we were lead down to the lower levels of the Dam towards a set of doors that would take us inside. Once my hair wasn't as knotted I rebraided it, letting it fall down my back again so it was out of the way.

There were two new members of our party, one of which was a large black man who looked rather friendly. His female companion was a slight blonde thing, with twig like legs that were made to look longer with ridiculous high heels. Why ridiculous? Because she had denim jeans, cut off at the knee to make shorts and a thick fashion belt above them around her waist, her grey tanktop and black overshirt doing nothing to help the look...however good her golden hair may have looked. Okay so maybe I was a little jealous and she looked better than I first thought. Not questioning their sudden appearance I stopped when Simmons blocked our path, this time in a black shirt and cargo pants with a black beret to match.  
"Well those are better than your boxers." I quipped with a wry smile. He clearly didn't like any of us so I was making no attempts to be polite either, and the rather dark scowl on his face wasn't helping his case.  
"They were incredible." he shot back before looking at Sam, his neutral face making me think he was forcing down the hate. "Hey kid. I think we got off to a bad start huh?" he placed a hand on Sam's shoulder in a friendly manner and I quickly pushed it off for him. Sam smiled a little but quickly dropped the look as Simmons ploughed on, "You want a latté, hoho? Double v-"  
"Where's my car?" Sam cut him off with a sincere look. Another man stepped in, with a brown bushy moustache and a combover of brown hair.

He was in an all black suit looking like he was ready for a funeral and the thought made me grimace. Would there be a funeral today? They'd stolen Bumblebee away from us and by taking us away like they had they had almost exponentially increased the likelihood of an alien war occuring. Had Optimus got the glasses? Were they on the way to the all spark right now? Was it possible that maybe they would get there before the decpticons and prevent the war?  
"Son...listen to me carefully." he was saying it slowly, like my brother was unable to understand. "People could die here, we need to know everything you know. Now." his voice was friendly and inviting but his look told me otherwise; it wasn't an invitation but an order. Sam shrugged,  
"Okay." he agreed easily, making my eyebrows lift slightly. He was giving in so easily? I was almost ashamed. "But first I'll take my car, my parents, maybe you should write this down..."he bit his lip, a thoughtful look on his face before looking at Mikaela, "Oh and her juvie record needs to be gone, like...forever." he finished. A smirk twitched my lips upward - that was my brother. Mikaela looked shocked he'd do it for her and I leaned in close to her ear and whispered,  
"He likes you dumb ass." She blushed a little as the man agreed to see what he could do about Bumblebee. I hoped that Bee was okay but I couldn't see them treating him all that nicely. He was an alien that had arrived unannounced and threatened our world, and we had a notorious tendency for being afraid of the unknown.

Mikaelea breathed a thank you as they followed the moustache man away. Simmons looked distastefully at me,  
"Kids an extortionist." he grunted. Rolling my eyes I walked right past him with my head held high, coughing out a rather crude swear word on my way past and hurrying to catch up with the others as he called after me angrily. Upon entering the Dam I was immediately hit by the change in temperature, feeling the goosebumps break out on my flesh. There was a que of people waiting to get badges and we had to join them. Infornt of them I noticed some military men, a whole team of them. They seemed very stern looking but I caught one of them elbowing the other with a playful smirk. One in particular caught my eye and I discreetly looked him up and down. He was tall (possibly 6 foot two or three) with short dark, brown hair, that matched his tanned skin tone perfectly. His eyes... god they were a gorgeous colour brown, you could sink in them and it would be like drowning in coffee. He looked well muscled too, I bet he had a killer body under that baggy grey cargo uniform and I found that suddenly my trip to Hoover Dam was looking up. He placed a beret in a small box off to the side as I was issued my badge, and I turned my attention to sticking it on my plaid shirt. "Hey! Hey! You, yeah you! What did you call me?" Simmons demanded as he skidded to a halt infront of me. My eyebrows rose but I didn't flinch away. I was a grown woman, I wasn't afraid of him and I was tired of his bullshit attitude anyway. Sam and Mikaela watched warily as he got up in my face, or rather leaned down since he was taller than me. I was aware of a lot of eyes on us so I played it cool,  
"Well I can't exactly repeat it with kids in the room." I feigned disinterest and turned to walk away but Simmons grabbed my arm. I glared at him venomously.  
"Let's get one thing clear little miss attitude. I don't like you, and I have the power to make you disappear." the threat was obvious but I refused to let him beat me. Clenching my jaw, I viciously yanked my arm from his grip in a sudden jerky motion he hadn't expected.  
"Well that makes two of us! You're not winning points with me either asshole so keep your hands off of me, step back, and try a breath mint!" I snapped.

Simmons was so mad I could have sworn I saw steam coming out of his ears. He raised his hand and for a split second I thought he was going to hit me before somebody stepped in, grabbing his arm and lowering it to his side. His eyebrows had rose, his brown eyes flickering between us.  
"Sir, she's a civillian." he stated as if that was all there was too it. Simmons looked unhappy, but his sour expression was wiped away and replaced by a mask of calm as he stepped back,  
"Maybe, but she isn't under our protection here and if she isn't careful...accidents might happen." the threat was once again obvious even though he hadn't aimed it at me, but the military guy kept his face neutral, standing beside me until Simmons had walked away, barking orders to follow him. Looking up at him I was about to say thank you when he looked down at me with such a stern expression I shrank back a little,  
"Whatever negativity you feel towards him, remember that he overrides every word you say and he will crush you into the ground if you give him half the chance." he said. His voice was low but sharp and much like Optimus he had an air about him that screamed _leader_! Slowly, my head nodded. The man looked me up and down and leaned in a little closer. "Don't give that dick the chance he's looking for." he murmered before turning and striding away. A giggle bubbled up but I stifled it, biting back my smile as I walked towards Sam and Mikaela. They both stared at me curiously until I glared at them,  
"Hey! I'm not a zoo exhibit! Quit with the staring already!" I ordered pointing down the corridor in the direction of Simmons. The group of soldiers was up ahead but the black one in the different uniform (a camouflage green and brown assortment rather than the grey uniform the others were wearing) had hung back slightly.

The kids were up ahead of me and I was trailing at the back of the pack when he joined me, keeping pace with my little legs easily and unfortunately ruining my plans to stare at his friend from behind.  
"Hey. That your son up there?" the guy asked. Eyes widening I glared at him slightly, indignation colouring my tone as I coldly stated,  
"He's my brother." cheeks flushing slightly he grimaced, realising his mistake. Feeling more than a little insulted I quickened my pace, but he caught up quickly and said,  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." He was rather soft spoken I noticed, his voice quite meoldious but not a patch on the rough, deep voice of his friend. He was definitely trailing behind in the looks department too but I dared not ask about his friend when there were much more pressing matters at hand. "I'm Sergeant Epps, or Robert...depending on your preference. With all due respect ma'am, me and the boys are curious as to what civillians are doing here." he said it casually but it was an open invitation for confidence. My eyebrows rose, he seemed like a nice guy at least and since he was here I guessed he knew anyway. Shrugging nochalantly I nodded at my brother,  
"He bought his first car...turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?" I said and smiled a little,  
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Ellie, Ellie Witwicky." I held out a hand and shook his firmly while we walked along. He nodded,  
"Nice, Ellie short for something?" he asked curiously in an off hand manner. Groaning I shook my head,  
"I'm going to say no and you're never going to ask again." I retorted demandingly. He barked out a laugh and I noticed vaguely we had overtaken the kids and were at the front of the pack now so to speak, most of his team flanked him but one was walking just behind us.

I could feel those brown eyes boring holes into the back of my head and fought the urge to turn back and catch him in the act, guessing he was probably listening in on the conversation.  
"That bad huh?" Epps thought aloud as Simmons began what felt like a rehearsed speech to me,  
"Here's the situation, you've all had contact with an N.B.E-"  
"An N.B.E?" Epps questioned, sounding confused.  
"Non-Biological Extra-Terrestiral, please try and keep up with the acronyms." he sneered with a bitter smile before continuing to ramble on. Drowning him out I glanced at Epps and grinned a bit,  
"What he really means is fucking huge robot with giant ass canons." I muttered out the corner of my mouth. Epps chuckled under his breath and there were a few quiet snorts from around us as we walked along, the deep chuckle of his mysterious friend resonating in my ears and making my grin widen. Simmons briefly glanced back and venomously glared at us...I waved innocently back at him like the irritating little bitch I was. Rolling my eyes at his behaviour I inhaled a deep lungful of the fresh air, basking in the warm sun before Simmons lead us inside. The corridor was a dark tunnel really, with thick pipes running across the walls that left the hum of electricity lingering in the air. Sam and Mikaela looked preplexed by the set up and I smirked, ruffling their hair as they fell into step beside me. I'd studied something similar and knew it was essentially just a giant circuit of wires to deliver power to various parts of the base; the thicker pipes were most likely a distribution line for some sort of gas or liquid. "This is why you should have come to MIT with me Sammy." I teased. Sam rolled his eyes,  
"Nerd!" he coughed. Mikaela laughed and I raised an eyebrow,  
"Guy who dragged us into an alien war!" I coughed back.  
"Don't be a bully." Sam chuckled, grinning at me and throwing an arm around my shoulder. I shrugged it off and nudged him playfully in the ribs,  
"Baby bro I claimed all bullying rights the minute after you were born...and I say after because I was eating candy for the first minute in the waiting room." I retorted.

Simmons's moustached friend had come back again and together they were telling us about the highly classified thing we were about to see. We walked into a cavernous room that was freezing cold, the pipes and wires were running along the floors now and you had to be careful you didn't trip over the large structures. Around us there were laptops, cargo crates with plastic wraps over the top and...an autobot? My eyebrows furrowed slightly as I studied him, he was as large as Optimus if not a little bigger, with three killer looking claws on each hand and sharp facial features. His head was bowed but he had a menacing looking mouth, the metal twisted into a permanent snarl. He was no autobot, I was certain of that now. Simmons and Moustache were taking it in turns to explain where he had come from, and snippets of the information was absorbed by my brain as I turned in awed circles to see everything set up in the room. There was a continuous flow of that white cloudy gas I suspected was the same Nitrogen oxide they'd doused Bee with - some sort of freezing agent I realised since they told us he had been in cryogenic stasis since he'd been shipped here in 1934.  
"We think that as he was coming over the north pole our gravitational field screwed up his telemitary. He crashed into the ice and was frozen for what we think was thousands of years." Simmons informed us all in his monotone voice...god that man was so depressing.  
"Your great great grandfarther made one of the greatest discoveries in history." Moustache commented. He was looking directly at me and Sam and I nodded appreciatively as I glanced at my brother to see how he was taking all this.

He looked deep in thought, arms crossed over his chest as I thought it all through. Crash landed in the ice? Archibald discovered him? My eyes widened slightly as the pieces fell into place,  
"Sir I hate to correct you on everything you think you know but-"  
"That's Megatron." Sam blurted, the realisation striking him aswell. My head nodded in agreement and Simmons stared at us, the contempt clear in his eyes. "Leader of the decepticons." Sam continued. He was on a roll and I let him take the stage, feeling that penetrating stare of brown eyes on my back again and shivering slightly...it had nothing to do with the cold room. "He came here looking for the all spark and crash landed in the arctic years ago." Sam explained.  
"All spark?" Secretary Keller asked. I hadn't even noticed him before now but recognised the Secretary of Defense from the news. Nodding my head I stepped up, knowing more about it than Sam did and telling them the facts as I knew them.  
"Yes sir, it's a device from their home planet Cybertron. Megatron wants to use it to transform human technology to take over the universe." I revealed. Sam raised his eyebrows,  
"Where'd you learn that?" he enquired, tilting his head a bit. I shrugged,  
"I asked an autobot...duh?" I added uncertainly at the end. He snorted and nudged my ribs,  
"Yep. You're a nerd." he stated matter of factly. Rolling my eyes I slapped him upside the head, not bothering to scold him for it this time.

The Secretary was watching us, looking unimpressed by our behaviour and I gazed intently at him to let him know he had my full attention. "You know where it is don't you?" Sam said finally. Keller looked at Simmons and Moustache for the answer. Moustache finally nodded once making my chest constrict and stomach flutter in anticipation.  
"Follow me." he ordered. They had it, they had the all spark...it had to get to Optimus, no matter the cost. The autobots needed to get this before anyone else. Mikaela, Sam and myself were the fastest out of everyone, knowing more about what this was from our encounter with the autobots and feeling eager to see what all the fuss was about. I was walking right alongside moustache, wondering vaguely what the all spark would be like. Optimus had said it was a cube but nothing more so my curiousity had piqued. "What you're about to see is the crown jewel." Moustache declared to the group as a sturdy looking door with vault style locks on the front was opened for us, the two armed guards stepping aside to let us in. The room was a small observatory, with a large glass window that showed us another cavernous room beyond it. It was much colder in here and Sam took off his hoodie, slipping it around my shoulders. Thanking him quietly I zipped it up with a shiver but my main focus was on the room infornt of us. The craggy rock walls jutted out unevenly, more pipes and powerlines crawling along the walls and floor. Sitting at an angle in the rock was the all spark, a clossal object that took presidence in the centre of the room with fancy looking engravings I thought might be the autobots language covering it's sides.  
"Holy shit." I heard one of the soldiers mutter.

Epps had come to stand beside me again and together we devoured the all spark with our eyes, his friend and leader behind him was looking just as shocked as all of us and I risked a glance up at him to see the wonder in his eyes. He glanced down and caught me looking with a small smirk on his lips but before he could say anything the government officials were back to rabbiting at us.  
"After it was discovered here we knew we had to hide it...President Hoover ordered the dam to be built around it - four football pitches thick of rock encase that room so that nobody would ever pick up the energy readings from it if they were looking. No person...or alien." Moustahce told us ominously. It wasn't a freaking campfire story! This thing was real!  
"That's beautiful." Epps mumbled under his breath. Nodding in agreement I began to theorise outloud, unaware I was doing it of course until Epps looked at me in suprise. "You sure know your stuff, you were talking about perpetual energy sources, all sorts..." he commented, cocking his head slightly. Cheeks flushing embarrassedly I shrugged, trying to play it off casually since I had a bit of modesty and didn't want to brag,  
"I er...I just graduated from the Massachusetts Institue of Technology." I admitted. Epps was so easy to talk to that I didn't mind revealing that to him, but I heard the slight hum of approval from his friend and couldn't help but smile a little. Looking impressed, Epps smiled at me,  
"MIT graduate huh? Nice...planning on joining the air force?" he questioned. Frowning a little I slowly shook my head,  
"Not really, I don't know what to do from here...I guess it depends on whether or not we live through this." I joked. Epps rolled his eyes,  
"Your lack of faith in us is insulting." he looked deadly serious before a small smile tugged at his lips and I laughed quietly with him.

Suddenly, a thought struck me and I broke the awed silence to ask the question that was already beginning to bug me,  
"Wait, back up a minute, you said the Dam hides the cubes energy. What kind exactly?" Moustache looked at me with his impassive face and I wanted to scream, was it seriously so bad to show a little emotion around here!  
"Good question." he answered, motioning for us to follow him again. I huffed,  
"I'm pretty sure all this walking fills my excercise quota for the year." I grumbled. Mikaela snorted,  
"Like you need one of those." she retorted, the first words I'd really heard her utter since we'd walked in here. Smiling bashfully I blushed a little,  
"Thanks." I mumbled. Sam snorted,  
"She needs it alright." he remarked. Mikaela and I slapped him at the same time and Simmons cleared his throat.  
"Enough of the violence ladies, this kid could save the world." he drawled. My eyebrows tried to escape into my hairline at thatand I felt my stomach churn nauseously.  
"Excuse me? My brother won't be going on the frontline if that's what you mean." I retorted, getting snappy and defensive. Simmons stared at me blankly.  
"You don't get a say in the matter." he stated. Scoffing I gave him a look so deadly a cobra would have quivered.  
"Like hell I don't! He's a minor and legally he's my responsibility!" I cried, frustration lacing my voice.  
"We'll talk about it later." Sam piped up and put a hand on my arm, giving me a meaningful look.  
"We will if there's anything to discuss." Simmons said, giving me a withering glare before striding after Moustache who was almost at the end of this overly long corridor.

It took me a moment to register what was happening around me and begin walking after him. They were threatening to send my brother out into combat with alien robots! My face paled considerably and my stomach twisted in anxious knots - I refused to let that happen.  
"How about the stick that's lodged up your ass, lets discuss that." I grumbled to myself, but a deep chuckle beside me informed me Epps was still here. "Are you following me?" I asked half annoyed, half amused. Epps shrugged,  
"You seem like one of the more normal people here." he commented. I tried not to roll my eyes because I had a hunch he was under orders to check out the civillian group from his friend. Nodding my head, I stepped in when he gestured for me to go into the little room first. It was stuffy with so many people inside it. The walls were more jagged here than anywhere else and upon closer inspection I realised they were claw marks. My eyes widened a little and I knew Epps had spotted them too as we crowded in together.  
"Please get in, they have to lock us inside." Moustahce said. Biting my lip I looked at Sam, hoping my trepidation didn't show on my face.  
"Can I wait outside?" I asked him. Sam shook his head,  
"No, you have to come with me." he insisted, grey eyes going wide and pleading. Mikaela nodded in agreement and, exhaling slowly, I agreed begrudingly. I stayed near the back however, ready to barrel out of the door like the hulk the minute they opened it again.  
"Has Freddy Krueger been up in here?" Epps asked suspiciously. He looked just as wary as I felt.  
"Nah man that's four claws, there's only three, this is so wolverine!" the other pair of civillians, the huge guy in particular exclaimed with a laugh and I was suddenly reminded of their existence. "Wolverine? Get it?" he asked the group, still laughing. Since nobody spoke up I felt a little bad for him but there was no way I was giving Sam anything else to tease me about, so I kept silent.

Instead I focused on breathing evenly. It had become uncomfortably warm in here now and the many different people in here were all breathing so loudly in my ears, everything felt amiplified. Handing Sam his hoodie back I wormed my way to the front so I wasn't stuck inbetween so many people. I didn't like this one bit, I never had liked small crowded spaces ever since I was young and had been trapped by our cousins in the coat closet at a family party for hours. I'd been sweating buckets when they finally let me out because I'd been wedged between so many coats and forced to stand for hours without relief. Sam didn't even glance at me, he didn't know about my claustrophobia. It felt like I couldn't breathe, my chest constricting tightly and palms sweating uncontrollably. The heat was unbearable and I quickly shrugged off my plaid overshirt, tieing it around my waist instead and inhaling deeply through my nose, exhaling slowly through my mouth.  
"Does anybody have any tech? A blackberry, key alarm?" he listed off more tech in a waterfall of words until again the huge guy stepped forward, handing him a nokia phone.  
"Nokia's, tough little suckers, you gotta hand it to the Japanese...they know the ways of the samari." Simmons muttered under his breath as he set the phone in a glass chamber. Raising my eyebrows I glanced at Keller incredulously, who merely shrugged a bit in response.  
"Nokia's from Finland dumbass." I informed him. Simmons glared at me,  
"Did I ask for your opinion?" he growled,  
"It's not opinion it's fact." I stated, crossing my arms over my chest. I was hot and bothered, hungry and agitated as I shifted from foot to foot like a beast in a cage. Sam finally seemed to notice and gave me a quizzical look but I couldn't reply.  
"I think you want me to shoot you." Simmons declared and scowled at me, his expression dark and murderous. Snorting I shook my head,  
"Do it already." I challenged. A moment passed, the air filled with thick tension as I stared him down. Simmons barely moved and I let out all my bottled up frustration with him, "Would you look at that, I'm still standing. Stop with the bullshit dude because we both know you don't have the balls to touch a hair on my head, so quit with the superiority complex because if we start comparing dick size, I'm going to win." I snapped.

The room was silent. Keller was stifling a laugh and the soldiers all looked amused, hiding smiles behind their hands. Epps gave me a small nod of approval with a small smile on his face and his friend gave me a discreet thumbs up, keeping his face stern even though his brown eyes were glistening with amusement. Simmons looked taken aback by it all and I sighed, wondering if I had broken him. "Can we get on with this please because I can't breathe in here." I stated calmly. Sam and Mikaela were starring at one another in suprise as Simmons finally managed to shake himself out of his trance. We picked up a pair of goggles each and pulled them on - the room was tinted darker now. Suddenly, a whirring sound filled my ears (machineary powering up) before a bright light made me cringe back towards the blonde woman. The phone was trembling, vibrating, then suddenly it jumped up, looking like a little spider with glowing red eyes. They had created a decepticon. My eyes widened as he banged around in the chamber,  
"Kinda like the itty bitty energizer bunny from hell." Simmons quipped, and for once I agreed with him. The dull thuds of the bot smashing against the walls were echoing in my brain as he pulled out a mini gun and shot rounds at the glass. Chips began to appear and I inhaled sharply as he charged and created a little spider web. My stomach twisted horribly and I briefly wished Jazz was here to explain what the hell had just happened. "He's breaking the glass." I warned, watching intently as the little bot prepared to run again. A sudden and intense flash of light and the crackle of electricity brought the bot down. The smell of burning metal made me scunch my nose up in disgust. Then the lights flickered and panic bloomed in my gut.


	7. Chapter 7: Welcome To The New Age

Lennox's Point of View:

Abruptly, the atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone tensed and my eyes flickered around the ceiling, searcing for cracks and weak spots that could bring it down; thankfully I found none.  
"Gentleman, they know the cubes here." Keller stated solemnly, not that we needed to hear it from him to know that. The tension in the room was palapable and I saw the civillians huddle closer together out of the corner of my eye, finding my eyes lingering on the eldest woman before I looked away again in an attempt to focus. How much did they know that we didn't? Simmons and Dubanacheck looked at one another and the room began bustling, various voices shouting and feeet stampeding outside. Dubanacheck slammed a hand down on the intercom and began demanding to know what was happening. Well, time to take action and do what I do best.  
"Do you have an arms room?" I questioned, stepping up by the man I assumed was some sort of Director here. He nodded, moving to the door and banging on it to get them to let us out. The eldest civillian woman let out an audible sigh of relief and once more I found my eyes passing over her once more - she was undeniably good looking. She was keeping a close eye on the two teens as we began jogging after the Director, who was calling back something about them taking down our generators...whoever they were. There was so much we still didn't know when it came to fighting these things; things that maybe the civillians knew. I tried to imagine what they could have been up to today to look so...dishevelled.

Epps had spoken to her, informed us she was actually quite friendly and that the civillians were here because they'd actually bought one of those robots thinking it was a car. She was ballsy to and after hearing what she'd said to Simmons, seeing the ferocious look in her eyes I could tell she was tough. We had emerged from the corridor and were moving towards a large room holding two massive tanks I assumed were part of the hydro-electric power plant they had working here.  
"Get everyone to the N.B one chamber now!" the director ordered, voice echoing off of the walls as we took off after him again, easily keeping pace with him while the civillians trailed behind.  
"Sam this is exactly why you failed football tryouts, keep up!" the woman snapped. A small smirk crawled up onto my lips but I quickly pushed it down again, hearing Epps chuckle a little beside me and shake his head as we burst into the armoury. Simmons directed us to 40mm sabot rounds and we quickly grabbed some guns each and some ammo to go with it, setting ourselves up for the firefight we knew was coming. I could still remember our last firefight with one of these alien things...we'd lost Fig and I wasn't keen to go through that again, but I had no choice in the matter since these orders were coming from higher up than any rank in the USAF went. The woman was arguing quietly again with her brother and I took my chance to look them all over and evaluate how useful or useless they might be to my team. The young female teenager looked uncomfortable and uncertain, like she wasn't quite sure why she was there but was rather...chesty, for somebody so young. I quickly scored her off the list and assumed she wouldn't be in the fight. The boy was the tallest, looking strikingly similar to his sister only his eyes were more grey than green when you looked close enough, little sparks of frustration flashing in them as he tried to level with his sister.

His sister was rather short in stature, with a willowy hourglass figure and beautifully sun kissed skin. Her hair was the same shade of dark brunette as her brothers, stray wisps of it hanging out of a loose braid that flowed down her back between her shoulder blades. She wasn't dressed to impress like her female companion was with nothing more a plaid overshirt and khaki cargo shorts, black converse giving her enough traction on the floor for her to run faster and keep up with us. If I had judged them right (which I was 99.9% certain I had) then she was more than likely willing to step up and help us out if she could. Her brother approached Simmons and began to demand his car be given back to him while she rolled her mesmerizing green eyes and shook her head, heading over to back him up since her no nonesense attitude would get the job done quicker. As I loaded my gun I kept my eyes on her - something about her was enthralling and I was determined to find out what when this was all over. There was another bang and dust floated down from the ceiling as the lights flickered again, only serving to add to the tension that was already steadily mounting as we prepared for war. My eyes roamed over her once more, her fierce glare, her stance oozing with self-confidence and anger. I saw Epps smirk at me a little,  
"Stop being so obvious man." he chuckled. Rolling my eyes I turned my back to her, focusing intently on putting together my weapon when I heard shouting, and I couldn't resist turning back to see what was going on this time. Simmons and the woman were at it again but she was clearly losing all patience with him. I didn't blame her either because from the moment we'd arrived he'd been nothing but condescending, yet I doubted he would be doing half as much as we would be within the next few hours to save the world.  
"Well unconfiscate it!" she cried incredulously, jabbing a finger at him before throwing her hands up exasperatedly. Simmons scoffed, eyes wide,  
"No! I don't know what will happen! I mean you might know but I don't!" he retorted.  
"So you're just gonna sit back and wait to see what happens?" the boy demanded, pacing behind them.

His sister was staring at the man before her as though she couldn't quite believe he existed, as though he might be one of the aliens. Simmons got right up in the boys face and I saw the furious expression cross her features, guessing it was a bad move. She seemed pretty protective of her brother and I had quickly come to the conclusion that it would be best to try and steer clear of asking any favours of him to save time and trouble.  
"Listen kid-" Simmons began sharply but she was quicker, throwing herself at him and pinning him against the side of the car with a loud bang that I was hoping shattered bones; I was rooting for her if that wasn't obvious.  
"No, you listen! Take him to the fucking car now!" she snapped, glaring down at him venomously. I was sure if looks could kill he'd be long dead by now. Simmons was starring at her in shock, his face had paled considerably and I chuckled slightly at the rather amusing scene of him trying to stammer an excuse,  
"No way! How do I know that it won't cause more-" She cut him off again, voice rising in pitch and volume as she jumped down his throat,  
"Because I'm standing here telling you it won't and you won't listen goddamit! Do you think if he wanted to hurt any of us we'd still be standing? He's on our side, he'll know what to do with the cube!" Simmons was still shaking his head and I decided to step in with a slightly more radical solution in an effort to save time. Stepping up beside, her I aimed my gun at his head,  
"Give the kid his car." I insisted. Behind us the clattering sounds of my team relieving the Sector Seven boys of their weapons made her jump, but she remained undeterred,keeping his body pinned to the car with hers.  
"Drop the gun soldier." he ordered calmly, barely sparing her a glance anymore as he noticed my glock hovering dangerously close to his face. She scoffed,  
"If he does I'll be the one shooting you." she promised, giving me a look that all but begged me to keep it up. I nodded imperceptibly, my hand unwavering as I simply stared at the man I was threatening to shoot.

There was a tense silence for a moment before Simmons tried again,  
"I am ordering you under the excecutive jurisdiction of Sector 7-"  
"Sector 7 doesn't exist remember?" she cut in. Nodding my head I exhaled sharply,  
"Yeah and we don't take orders from people who don't exist." I piped up. This close I could see the beads of sweat forming in her hairline, it was damn hot in here and all this running around had done her no favours but mixed in with the smell of sweat was a plesant vanilla fragrance. Shaking the thoughts out of my head I focused back on Simmons, admiring the woman's ferocity and strength from the corner of my eye. She was getting a little distracting if I was perfectly honest. Did she know how hot it was to watch her man handle Simmons like that?  
"I'm gonna count to five." Simmons said evenly as I cocked my sideam and pressed it against his chest,  
"Yeah, well I'm gonna count to three." I retorted heatedly. Simmons remained silent and for a daunting moment I thought I'd actually have to shoot him. Then, Sec-Def spoke up,  
"Simmons. I'd do as they say, losing isn't an option for these boys...and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." he smiled a little and I briefly thought he looked a little bit to cheery considering our current situation. Simmons stared at him in disbelief.

Looking back at us, he scowled and flicked his gaze between us both. She was smiling triumphantly and let his shirt fall from her fist, arms crossing over her chest as she gave him the room he needed to straighten up.  
"Okay." Simmons agreed. "Okay, you wanna rest the fate of the world on the kids camaro, fine, go ahead." He sat up as I moved my gun, "But don't think I don't know what's happening here. You teaming up with your little boyfriend." he stated, smirking as though he were the cat that got the cream. Boyfriend? I'd have to take her to dinner first. She huffed,  
"Oh fuck you already!" she exclaimed, throwing her fist into his nose. His head snapped back and a sickening crack sounded, his hands clutching his nose as blood poured from it, seeping between his fingers while he sank to the floor with a moan. My eyebrows rose a little but I was secretly cheering for her, he'd had it coming for a while. She rolled her eyes and stared around the room, "Well? Who's taking us to the camaro?" she asked with a voice so sharp it could of cut through metal. Three of the Sector 7 men were scurrying forward to do her bidding, but the Director waved them off and lead the way instead. She was walking briskly beside me, her brother calling her name behind her. Apparently her name was Ellie, something that had to be short for something but I didn't have time to wonder what. She merely glaced over her shoulder, silently asking what he wanted from her.  
"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" her brother demanded, breathless as he jogged to keep up with us. My team had come to walk with us too now and I caught the appreciative glances they were sending her way, silently warning them to back off with my eyes.  
"What? You think mom slugged Trent when he almost KO'd you last year? That was all me little brother." she retorted dryly.  
"I'd hate to be your enemy." I remarked. She glanced up at me with those mesmerising green eyes, a small smirk twitching her lips up and a playful glint entering her eyes,  
"Great, so you wanna be on my team?" the joke was weighed down a little by the severity in her voice but it still made me chuckle.  
"I'm the one giving the orders around here." I replied with a hint of sincereity. I needed her to know that from the start because I couldn't have a wild child running around in the middle of a military operation, however good she looked while doing it. She nodded, looking distracted as the Director opened up a huge door for us.

Her gasp was audible as we walked into the room, her little body surging forward as she shoved one of the technicians spraying some sort of gas at a large yellow robot to the floor.  
"Want me to spray it in your face?" she threatened, that deadly glint back in her eye again. Yep, that was definitely hot. Her brother was talking rapidly to the robot who had rolled to his feet now and was aiming huge guns at us, instinctively I'd aimed mine back at him but Ellie came and pushed my arm down, her grip firm but gentle. "He won't hurt you." she promised, her voice holding such conviction I believed her.  
"I can take you to the all spark." the boy promised. She watched carefully as I furrowed my brows,  
"Why's he listening to your brother?" I asked curiously. Her green eyes met mine and she tilted her head slightly, looking intrigued by me. I wondered if she was finding me as interesting as I was finding her before I pushed the thought away and focused on her answer,  
"Bumblebee's his guardian...we've been through a lot these past twenty four hours but Bee's pretty much here to protect Sam..."she trailed off, glancing back at her brother. "I know you can't promise me anything, but please, try and look after my brother." she pleaded, her eyes suddenly turning large and puppy dog like. A lump formed in my throat and I had to swallow to force it away. I wanted to say yes so badly, just so she'd stop looking at me like that - her eyes were becoming a bit of a weakness for me. But I couldn't promise her anything, so using all of my training I schooled my features into an indifferent mask, something I had perfected after serving for so many years.  
"You're right, I can't promise you anything." I said finally.

She nodded a little, looking disappointed but understanding. She took a breath to collect herself and focused her attention back on the huge robot before me. It was a damn strange sight, seeing a twenty foot or so robot standing before me and knowing he was an allie of mine in an alien war.  
"You okay Bee?" Ellie asked softly, looking up into the glowing blue eyes. A soft whirring sound echoed through the air and then a clicking sound. Suddenly the radio was on, a variety of voices, both male and female, deep and soprano came through it,  
"I've been...better...sugar." the robot answered. She groaned,  
"Oh come on! Just because Jazz calls me sugar doesn't mean you can too!" she protested. Sam smirked,  
"But you're so sweet." he ruffled her hair and she jabbed him in the ribs. The petty sibling rivallary (though childish) was a welcome distraction from the thought of our possibly imminent deaths. But my team were relying on me, I had to get them through this like I always did, get them home for those flat beers and football games they talked about loving so much. "Come on, we need to get Bee to the all spark." Sam said finally. We all followed them down to the huge cube again and waited with baited breath for the robot to do something. The other teenager was waiting beside Sam, her hand interlocked with his and I noticed his sister had spotted it to, smirking a bit as she watched the robot stare up at the cube. If it was possible, I could have sworn I saw wonder in his eyes. Then, he reached up with both hands and touched it. There was a thunk, the sound of air hissing and escaping and Epps muttering beside me,  
"Here we go, he doing something." Blocks began to pull back into the cube, the top crumpling as it folded in on itself and shrunk.

I felt my eyes widen, the wonderous sight before me stealing my breath for a moment as we watched the cube shrink down until it was the size of the average christmas present. The radio clicked on again and the robot said,  
"Message from starfleet captain...let's get to it." his voice went deeper at the end and I found my curiosity come back with a vengence. How did it change channel fast enough to talk through the radio like that? Snapping out of my trance I looked at Simmons and the Sec-Def.  
"He's right, if we stay here we're screwed, especially with Megatron in the next hangar." I thought aloud. My mind reeling with ideas I scrambled to think of a plan, finally coming up with one I didn't think was all that bad even if it was a little reckless. "Look, Mission City is twenty two miles from here, we take the cube and hide it in the city until we can extract it and get it into safe hands." I suggested. Keller nodded a little, and I continued, "But." his face fell at the world, "We cannot make a stand without the air force." I insisted. We'd need air support if we were going to have a hope in hell of holding off these so called Decepticons. I didn't know a lot about these aliens but I sure as hell knew that much.  
"You must have a radio link of some kind, shortwave, CB?" Keller pressed and Simmons, who was looking pale and had bloody tissue stuffed up his nose, had another one of his outbursts. Ignoring them completely I mobilised my team towards the convoy we would take into Mission, ordering Sam to get in the car as I did so in an effort to keep him safe. Ellie moved to slip in after him and his girlfriend but I grabbed her arm, feeling a strange and tangeable electricity pass between us. Her skin was warm and soft to the touch. With more strength than I thought she had she jerked it out of my grip and spun around (ready to give me a tongue lashing no doubt) before she stopped, realising I wasn't Simmons.  
"I want you riding with me, I need you to tell me everything you know about the robots and how best to fight these things." I commanded.

She bit her lip slightly but reached back, banging on the hood of the car so that it'd shut it's doors,  
"Okay." she agreed, suprising me slightly. It couldn't be that easy could it? "But when we get to Mission City I stay with my brother." she bargained. That was one thing I couldn't deny her so I nodded and lead her towards the car we'd be driving. Epps sat beside me in the passenger seat, grinning back at her,  
"Hey stranger." he greeted. She chuckled and greeted him cordially,  
"Epps." she rolled her eyes a little but couldn't keep her face straight. It was then I realised she was following my orders but didn't have a clue who I was. Clearing my throat a little as I brought the engine to life I introduced myself,  
"Captain Will Lennox." Her eyebrows rose a little,  
"Ellie Witwicky, it's nice to meet you." her polite tone was incredibly different to the angry one I'd heard her using at Simmons for most of the day, and I found I rather liked the sound of her voice when she wasn't being so cold and snappy. Pulling out, I lead the convoy out into the boiling sun, heading straight towards the freeway so we could go straight to Mission City. The wind whipped past us, the speed mixed with the fact that this little scrambler buggy had no doors made the engine deafening and I had to shout to be heard over it,  
"Start talking! What do we need to know about these things!" Ellie pondered it for a moment before she began yelling back at me; it must have looked pretty odd to anyone looking from the outside.

She gave me a whole list of things to know about, clearly very knowledge about these robots already. The chest armour was weakest when attacking from below, behind it was their spark, their power source. If we could hit that it'd be smooth sailing I imagined but the fact we had to negotiate our way past their weapons before we could even think about getting past their armour was the problem. They were sensitive to heat (which we already knew thanks to our desert meeting with one of those things - hence our sabot rounds) but there was also another interesting thing; EMP's wouldn't work. She'd watched an autobot (as she called them) walk straight into a powerline and pretty much just get high off of the shock, so any electrical based attacks were out. On the horizon I saw a glimpse of silver, and squinted to get a better look at it. They were the pipes of a truck, a huge red and blue truck coming towards us, leading a convoy of it's own behind it, they were coming towards us at rapid speed and I felt a uneasy feeling wash over me. Ellie leaned forward eagerly, looking relieved and maybe even a little excited.  
"Captain, meet the cavalary!" she declared, smiling as the truck spun it's tail 180 to join us. All of the other cars joined it except for one little Pontiac Solstice, that sped alongside us with its headlights flashing. "Jazz! Wrong side of the road pal!" she laughed. The little car just honked it's horn at her in reply and I felt my eyebrows escape into my hairline.  
"You know that car?" I called back, don't tell me she had a guardian aswell? This whole thing was getting a little crazy, cars shouldn't be able to communicate with us but here we were. She nodded her head a little with a small grin on her face that proved to be infectious. The radio began blasting from the car next to us and _sugar, oh honey honey_ was echoing suddenly through the Nevada dessert. She blushed beetroot red and said, "He's a little flirty." My eyes rolled, wonderful, a flirtatious robot. Part of me sincerely hoped she wouldn't fall for it before realising I was concerned about one of the most unlikely and ridiculous things I'd ever heard of. Passing between the crevice of two rocks gave us a brief and welcome moment of relief in the shade before we were back out in the boiling sun. The freeway was looming on the horizon, shimmering in the heat haze and I braced myself for what I was certain would be a long day.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hello guys,**_

 _ **I know I've been updating pretty regularly since I published this story but I feel it's only fair to forewarn you yat I might not be able to do that anymore. I will still aim to update at least once a week but to update every few days as I have been won't be possible now I'm starting sixth form. Next week is enrolement and they gave me summer work to get a jump on some of my A-Level subjects that I need to organise between now and then, after that I officially start and my studies have to take priority I'm afraid. So, I'm still going to update this story, but I may not be able to do it as regularly, that's all.  
Also, thank you to Guest who has left two reviews since I started writing. I don't want to sound desperate but if anybody else wants to drop a comment and let me know how I'm doing it would be much appreciated, I love hearing your feedback! **_

_**Best Wishes,  
Jess**_


	8. Chapter 8: Feels Like War

Ellie's Point of View:

That was when it hit me; we were heading to mission city. Mission city...where Cordelia was going to announce her enagement to her parents. My stomach dropped. Leaning forward I tapped Lennox's shoulder,  
"Do you have a cell phone?" I called over the wind. He frowned and shook his head slightly and I felt the colour drain from my face.  
"You got family in Mission?" he asked, our voices loud over the deafening roar of the engine. Swallowing thickly I shook my head,  
"No, my best friend and her fiancé." I answered. He looked at me apologetically but I waved it off, steeling my face and schooling my features into an indifferent mask. Cordelia was smart, she'd get out the minute she could. Besides, her parents lived on the outskirts right? Pushing the thoughts away I glanced over my shoulder to look at the autobots, who were fanning out as we emerged on the freeway. Lennox was going incredibly fast and I sat in the back holding tightly onto the seat while he weaved lazily through the cars, we were soon far up ahead on the freeway and I lost sight of the autobots behind us.

Biting my lower lip I took a deep calming breath, trying to relax some of my tense muscles and ease my anxiety - I trusted Bumblbee to look after Sam and Mikaela. Lennox glanced back at me,  
"Once we're in Mission you stay as close to us as possible!" he instructed. I nodded my head, knowing it was for the best and not feeling all that opposed to the idea of spending time with a handsome major. "Then when you can, you get out of there, we want to minimalise the civillian casualties." he continued. My eyes widened and I shook my head,  
"No way! My brothers going to be in there! I won't leave him!" I yelled defiantly. Okay, I was now wonderinf if said handsome major now had a brain cell. He looked at me with a stern expression and narrowed his brown eyes,  
"You do exactly as we say, we have the jurisdiction here!" he shouted at me.  
"Not over me, I'm not a soldier and I won't leave my brother!" I insisted. Epps punched Lennox's arm to gain his attention,  
"Man you already know you won't be changing her mind, just stay close by okay!" Epps looked back at me and I nodded, settling back triumphantly in my seat and fighting the urge to childishly stick out my tongue.

The city was looming ahead of us, a sihlouette on the horizon. Tall buildings were shimmering in the heat haze and the smell of fresh air was slowly becoming more polluted with city smells; cars, restaurants, the usual things you'd associate with urban areas, the things I found comfortingly familiar. I sighed a little, letting the city interior relax me as we were engulfed by shops and tall concrete structures I guessed were apartments maybe - I was a city girl at heart. We pulled into the city, driving a few yards in before we came across a shop, Rhonda's Pawn Shop to be precise; I wondered just what kind of junk Rhonda was selling. My eyebrows rose as Lennox leapt out and sprinted inside, my eyes tracking his movements as he left. Epps got out to as did many other soldiers, yelling at people to evacuate and already securing a perimeter. I sat in the back, waiting patiently even though my stomach was twisting into knots, lots and lots of nauseous knots. Intertwining my fingers I curled them together nervously, mind racing with the possible outcomes of today and finding more than one too gruesome to contemplate. Then, Lennox was coming back holding a bunch of wires and boxes in his hands, brown eyes briefly glancing at me and burning with determination.  
"Alright fan out!" Lennox barked the order and stuffed the radios into Epps's hands. "I got short wave radios." he informed him before jumping in the drivers seat once more and getting comfy. Epps sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radios and staring at them in bewilderment as a familiar bright yellow car came up behind us. A breath of relief escaped me as Lennox drove off, the autobots and the military vehicles moving in a line down the high street as people scattered before them, looking justifiably afraid of the military force coming their way.  
"This is like radio shack radio dinosaurs man, what am I supposed to do with this shit?" Epps asked him, looking thoroughly confused and not on the same wavelength as his friend and boss. Lennox just looked back at him exasperatedly, shoulders tense with the weight of the world on them,  
"Use it, it's all we got!" he retorted sharply.  
"I can get twenty thirty miles out of those things tops." I piped up, mind reeling with ideas t try and make it easier for them to do their thing. Epps and Lennox looked preplexed before I grabbed them from Epps's hands and rolled my eyes, "I'm an MIT graduate, I know my way around tech." I reminded them and began to fiddle with the wires, pulling some out and crossing them over before plugging them back in.

A little red light flickered on and I handed them back to Epps, who immediately began radioing someone about air support. Allowing myself a small triumphant smile I looked around briefly at the shops and buildings, all different heights casting different lengths of shadow across the road, but we were still unable to escape the searing heat of Nevada. Lennox was watching the sky intently, brown eyes staring with such intensity I briefly worried he'd give himself a migraine.  
"F-22 twelve o'clock." he informed him, "I want air support and black hawks on stand by to extract the cube, you got that?" he demanded of Epps. Epps nodded and began to relay the information as Lennox pulled us over, stopping the convoy in the street. All the military personnel decamped so I did too, feet hitting the ground as I squinted and used my hand to shield my eyes to look up at the clear blue sky. A light breeze blew inbetween the buildings and pulled stray strands of hair from my face, cooling the sweat beginning to bead in my hairline. Lennox kept half an eye on me, and I found I was aware of his gaze even when my back was turned, something I felt was probably going to problematic at somepoint. "Air force is here, pop smoke!"Lennox called out to the group. Epps began radioing again,  
"Raptor raptor do you copy?" he asked. There was moment of silence and I felt the tension in the air increase ten fold. Sam and Mikaela were out of the car and suddenly standing beside me. My hand reached out and squeezed his arm, a silent reassurance that I was with him for this and we'd find a way to get through it. Inhaling deeply, I caught the smell of pizza and felt my stomach growl hungrily, but I pushed it asides since there was no time to be hungry right now.  
"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking down at me.

My eyes met his, the similar yet slightly greyer version of mine. He looked troubled, worried, and I wished (with a rush of warm affection for my baby brother) that I could take his anxiety away. Gesturing vaguely to the sky I explained,  
"Keller and the others must have been able to contact the air force."  
"We have visual. Green smoke is the target area, provide air cover and deploy black hawks for extraction." Epps radioed. There was again only silence. The F-22 had seemed really low down when it made a first pass and it had made an uneasy weight settle in my stomach. A small frown tugged at my brows, I had studied military aircraft a lot back in MIT for my aeronautical degree and whatever it was that wasn't quite right was bugging me horribly.  
"Are they supposed to fly that low?" I questioned looking up at Lennox. He looked down at me, our eyes locking as a frown drew his brows together. I couldn't help but marvel in his features as the sun made his tanned face glow, his chiselled jawline clenched with tension and full lips pursed in thought. He seemed to be pondering an answer to my question but before he could reply there was the familiar clicking that I had begun to associate with the autobots.  
"It's Starscream!" Ironhide's deep voice roared, vibrating through my bones and making me jump. Looking up I saw the F-22 had looped back around,  
"Please tell me you copy." Epps was almost pleading on the radio, voice sounding weaker than normal. Suddenly, Bee was standing by Ironhide and there was the squeal of tyres as Ratchet reversed.  
"Back up, Bumblebee!" Ironhide was throwing around the orders now and without questioning him I pulled Sam and Mikaela futhur backwards to stand by Ratchet. Lennox and Epps were slowly moving back too, making sure there men had moved aswell. Lennox was muttering under his breath as Bumblebee and Ironhide began to lift a truck up.  
"Fall back! Fall back!" Lennox was screaming, turning on his heel and running fast. My eyes widened when a stream of smoke came flying towards us, the first missile hit the road and sent shockwaves through the tarmac, the second hit the actual truck and blew it to smithereens. Bee and Ironhide went flying and moments later, the blast wave hit us and sent us spinning too.

The sound was deafening, it shattered my ear drums and muffled everything. The heat was searing, the temperature of my skin rocketing upwards as I spiralled through the air, my blood boiling and I swore my hair was singed at the ends. The blast had been so powerful it had lifted my small body off of the ground and flung me furthur than Sam and Mikaela, and I was trying to keep my body nice and loose as I crashed to the floor with a grunt. Losing the air in my lungs I gasped a little as I rolled to a stop, throwing my arms up to protect my head and feeling my exposed arms scrape the ground. Large chunks of rock were rocking the ground as they landed but smaller bits were raining down like precipitaion, the dust tickling my exposed skin and smaller chips of rock stinging where they had cut me. When it felt like things had settled more I slowly looked up, taking the destruction and coughing, gagging, choking on the dust. Everything was muffled - it was like trying to listen around cotton wool. Things were aching from the impact of my landing but I ignored it, propping myself up slowly on my elbows. The adrenaline rush that had surged through me was still pulsing around my body to ward off the pain and I instead tried to focus my hearing, vaugley hearing the shouts and screams of terrified people around me. Someone was touching my shoulder, and I was aware of a muffled cry of my name. Rolling over onto my side with a slight groan I caught sight of Lennox, raking his eyes over me and yelling something at me that I could barely hear, but dammit if his eyes weren't sending shivers down my spine again. The ringing in my ears intensified for a moment before they popped and suddenly everything was a hell out a lot louder. People were screaming, running, crying, scraps of metal from the truck were on fire and I could of sworn I saw a burning furbie roll by. If it wasn't a furbie, someones cat had been very unlucky today.  
"Ellie are you with me?" Lennox shouted, shaking my shoulder again slightly. Nodding my head I climbed to my feet with his help. His hand was warm and strong, slightly calloused from years of service but sturdy and dependable. Ah, there's that distraction I was talking about earlier.  
"Sorry, my ears were ringing." I apologised, looking around and feeling the panic rising within me when I couldn't find Sam. "Sam?" I questioned worriedly. Lennox looked around and pointed him out quickly, easing my fears and allowing me to breathe.

He and Mikaela were slowly inching their hands across the dusty tarmac, heads lifting to look at one another like they were in a cliché romance scene. "Oh thank god." I exhaled slowly and ran a hand through my messy hair. The smoke was clearing and Lennox dragged me down behind a large piece of concrete that had sprung up from the road in a jagged spike, spotting something I had yet to see apparently. I gasped a little when I hit the floor knees first, hissing as I dusted off a bunch of small rock shards from my skin and spotting the beads of blood dotting my knee caps.  
"What the hell was that?" Lennox demanded angrily as soldiers all around us picked themselves up and dusted themselves off.  
"What do you mean what was that?" Epps snapped back, looking agitated.  
"They were shooting at us!" Lennox snarled. His men had been put in danger and that made him one unhappy bunny...I hoped he'd care half as much if I died because I'd like to be mourned...preferably by a wicked buffet and all night long party.  
"F-22's don't fly below buildings, that's alien, that ain't friendly!" Epps retaliated, eyes wide and almost innocent in a way. My eyebrows drew together in a frown and I peaked up over the top of the rock, my eyes widening and my hand flying to my mouth. Shock froze me to the spot,  
"Oh god...Bee." I whispered, "Ratchet." I croaked. Turning I saw the yellow and red truck still on standby, "Ratchet!" I hollered, "Bee needs you!" Lennox looked startled by my outburst but I couldn't bring myself to spare the time to apologise, because one of my family was hurt. My heart stopped as I watched Bumblebee crawling across the road, Sam urging him to go furthur as Jazz reversed to give them more room. The radio crackled,  
"Blackhawks inbound to your location over." a static - flecked voice informed us. Epps was quick to respond with a bunch of military talk I didn't understand,  
"Alpha 273 degrees, 10 miles. November victor, 1.2 clicks North." he was clearly explaining something to someone but I was beyond understanding what and couldn't bring myself to care. Bee was still struggling on the road tears were burning in my eyes at the sight.

Then I saw it, a new sense of dread dawning over me as I pushed Lennox down furthur,  
"Sam!" I shrieked, my voice shrill, "Sam get down, get down!" I hunkered down behind the rock myself as the first shell rocked the earth around me. The dust billowed up around us and Lennox jumped a little, shooting me a grateful glance that I nodded to in reply. The shells continued to hit our rock made barricade and I cringed as each loud explosion popped in my ears, echoing through my head and rattling my bones, shaking the ground beneath me and demolishing the city surrounding us. Lennox's jaw had dropped and he shared a looked with me that suggested he was open to ideas, but I could only think of one. "Jazz! Jazz help!" I yelled, realising we were pinned down. Lennox and Epps kept popping their heads up but there was no clear shot to take so they couldn't do a thing. I could hear the crushing sound of the clossal tank coming our way over cars, at least I hoped it was cars and not bones crunching. People were screaming louder now, scurrying around like frightened mice. Ratchet sped past us, engines roaring as he and Jazz rocketed towards the tank. Lennox saw the opportunity he wanted clearly,  
"Move out!" he ordered and he hauled me up by the arm, letting me go shortly after in favour of running off after his squadron, but not before he had given my arm a brief squeeze. Epps darted forwards too but I darted back, pulling the two teens forward I urged them to follow after the army vehicles and the soldiers that were retreating. Sam continued to sit infront of Bumblebee, adamant that he wouldn't leave him - then Bee gave him the all spark and he knew he had to. Sam took off, but Mikaela stayed and I noticed she had tears in her eyes and was staring at Bumblebee, she didn't want to leave him and I couldn't say I blamed her.  
"Mikaela we have to go." I tried to coax her into it but something caught her eye when she turned around. There was a tow truck down the alleyway nearby and I could almost guess what she was planning.  
"Help me." she pleaded, green eyes full of desperation. Her dark hair was in stray whisps and flowing freely around her face messily, her skin was already becoming caked in dirt and I imagined I looked pretty similar. Her pink shirt was torn across her right arm and she stood defiantly before me like a version of one of Barbie's dark haired friends. Glancing back I noticed Sam was safely within a group of soldiers, giving me all the confidence I needed to take my eye off of him for a few minutes. Nodding resolutely I put my hand on her shoulder, ushering her with me towards the truck, but not before I saw Ironhide transform mid jump, canons blasting into the ground sending up a shower of tarmac and dust while he cartwheeled right over a screaming lady, landing in a forward roll to shoot at the tank while Jazz sped over behind him.

Once I had joined Mikaela in the alleyway, she didn't hesitate to use a fallen brick to put the window through and I felt a slight thrill run through me. We were technically stealing and though I doubted anyone would mind it still gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush. She opened the door and yanked out some wires under the wheel, shaky hands beginning to hot wire it. All around us were the deafening bangs of metal clashing on metal, missiles hitting their targets and the high pitched whistles of missiles sailing through the air to find their mark. The ground was constantly vibrating from the impacts and I gently took over for Mikaela, who's hands were shaking too badly to complete the job despite her best efforts. Bile rose in the back of my throat but I pushed it back when I heard the engine rumble to life. Hopping in I watched her scramble into the passenger seat and I drove out swiftly onto the road, knowing I had to get to Bee as quickly as possible to get Mikaela back to safety. My eyes widened when I saw Sam, sitting back on the rock he had previously left and giving me a heartattack - he had come back for Bumblebee. Upon seeing us his eyes widened furthur and he scrambled to his feet, no doubt guessing what we were about to do and preparing himself to help us. I could see Lennox and his squad were firing back down the road and glanced up to see a huge metal monster running through the city like he was Paula Radcliffe at a marathon. Megatron had found us. My heartrate shot up, blood pressure probably going through the roof as I took him in. Jazz looked so tiny compared to him and my stomach dropped when I spotted the little autobot swinging about by his ankles to get in a few shots. Cupping my hands around my mouth his name ripped from my lips in a deafening screech. This little Pontiac Solstice whom I barely knew but had already made such a big impact on my heart was now the focus of my anxiety. "Jazz, please get out of there!" I screamed like a banshee, my throat feeling raw and shredded but I refused to stop screaming until Jazz (who had been brutally thrown across the tarmac) transformed and sped backwards, swinging himself down a side road to get out of the battle. Relief coursed through my veins and Sam calling my name brought me back to reality. He and Mikaela were tieing the chains around Bumblebee, preparing to get him out of here. My eyes looked around, slowly drinking in all the destruction. There were bits of road lieing everywhere, the air had a faintly dusty tinge to it and dust carpeted the floor with deadly looking shards of rock. People were running around screaming, fires had sprung up in places, shop windows had shattered and chunks of building had fell to the floor, in short we had managed to destroy Mission City pretty well.

It was all so surreal. I was hyperaware of everything, my every heart beat and the blood roaring in my ears, the adrenline surging through me and a fresh wave of determination flowing through me, and with a slightly morbid stab of horror I found I partially enjoyed the rush it gave me. I was in the middle of a war zone with my brother and Mikaela andI had to protect them, both of them. Narrowing my eyes I turned to stare at them both, pointing at the truck,  
"Get Bee hooked up now." I commanded, jumping up to help them and taking a calming breath. I could do this, I could do this  
"Sam! Where's the cube!" Lennox pressed. He and his squad were running up either side of us as I ran another cable down and jumped off of the end of the truck to hand it to Mikaela. Sam pointed it out and Lennox looked at poor Bee before giving out more orders, "Epps get those black hawks here!"  
"Mikaela put this one around his neck." I said, and then I clapped her arm to bring her attention back to me. "You're doing good, keep at it." I encouraged. We hurried back and forth, doing our best to securely tie Bee up and despite the distractions. The air was stiflingly warm and dusty, suffocating and hard to breathe. Lennox came hurrying back while myself and Mikaela were tugging on cables to hoist Bee up, dumping his gun on the truck and searching his pockets for something.  
"Okay kid." he was panting, out of breath. "I can't leave my guys back there so take this flare. There's a tall white building over there with statues on, get to the roof, set the flare and get that cube-"  
"No." Sam cut him off, eyes wide and frantic.

Lennox was still trying to tell him to get the cube up to the roof as my heart stopped. "I can't do it!" Sam maintained. Lennox grabbed a fistful of his hoodie and yanked him forward.  
"Listen to me! You're a soldier now! Alright!" he was practically yelling Sam's face and a surge of anger washed through me, the need to protect him making me agitated to the point where my blood was boiling and I was shifting from foot to foot, itching to make a move. He wanted my brother to be a soldier now? He wanted my brother to risk his life? That wasn't his job! Though he hadn't been able to promise his safety I had thought he'd understand that he wasn't going to put him in any danger intentionally at least. Lennox shoved the cube up into Sam's arms, "I need you to take this cube and get it into military hands while we hold them off or a lot of people are gonna die." Lennox barrelled on at a bewildered Sam who (though I knew wouldn't admit it if I asked) looked terrified. Sam jumped off of the truck as Lennox turned to us, insisting that we leave and trying to push us away from Bee.  
"No way in hell." I snapped pushing back against his chest. His eyes narrowed at me and I involuntarily shuddered at the intensity of his gaze, almost drowning in his eyes like they were buckets of hot coffee.  
"This isn't optional!" he shot back heatedly.  
"You're right, leaving Bee isn't an option." I snarled, angrier than I had ever been and forcing myself to ignore the flutter in my stomach, "How dare you send my brother into the thick of it! He's a minor!" Lennox eyed me frustratedly,  
"Look this is a military operation and I need you to listen if I'm gonna keep you safe!" Lennox was injecting all of his authority into his voice but I refused to listen, stubbornly persisting that this wasn't going to happen, despite the fact that my will was crumbling under his heated glare - until Sam spun me to the right to face him that is.

His hazel eyes bore into mine, piercing through me sharply. His jaw was set and his eyes were wide but looking determined as he clutched the cube to him.  
"I can do this." he stated, completely contradicting his words from not five minutes ago. Opening my mouth to protest I felt my heart stutter in my chest when Sam cut me off, "Let me go. Let me go and do this Ellie, Bee trusts me to, I have to do this." his voice was soft, persuasive. "I'm not a little kid anymore, you can't protect me forever." Tears sprung to my eyes and I slapped him hard across the face,  
"How dare you!" I yelled at him, my heart aching in my chest. Sam flinched back a little, "How dare you tell me I can't protect you! You're my little brother and so help me god Samuel James Witwicky I will protect you with my last breath if I have to for as long as we're both alive! Do you hear me!" Sam nodded weakly and I pulled him into a tight hug, relishing in the warmth of his body against mine whilst it was here before I pushed him away. Bee had trusted Sam and the autobots had trusted us to help them, they were fighting with us, we owed them so much already. That didn't make it easier to recognise what Sam was saying as the truth. "Get out of here but make sure you come back goddamit." I was still shouting angrily at him, my heart breaking into two as I went against every instinct in my body that screamed at me to make him stay. Sam's eyes widened,  
"Seriously?" he asked, disbelief clouding his voice. I shoved his shoulder,  
"Get out of here before I change my mind!" I furiously swiped at my eyes to rid myself of the few tears that had managed to escape and looked back at Lennox. "If he doesn't come back I'm coming for you." I promised. Lennox nodded,  
"I'll hand myself over." he assured me, eyes softening as he allowed his eyes to linger on me for a moment. Lennox said more with his eyes than he ever could with his words, and he was trying to apologise.  
"Sam, we will protect you." Ironhide promised. Jazz rolled to a stop, standing up and nodding his head in agreement.  
"Yeah, we got your back, we'll look after him sugar." Jazz promised me, and I gave him a weak smile in return. Turning on my heel, I hopped back onto the truck and began to move faster to get Bee hooked up and on the back, face schooled into a mask of calm despite the turmoil raging inside me. I had just settled him quite nicely, hearing Lennox demand air support again from Epps while Sam and Mikaela had a stare off. Silently, I egged him on to kiss her but, much to both my dissapointment and Mikaela's, he turned and ran away instead. Ironhide and Ratchet were already firing down the street, Jazz running up ahead as Sam sprinted away from us, away from me. I prayed it wouldn't be the last time I'd see him and instead ushered the one person I could protect into the truck, getting on with my own mission.


	9. Chapter 9: Fight For Your Life

"Decepticons attack!" A gravelly voice boomed - I assumed it was megatron and my blood ran cold. My heart was racing again, the pressure crushing in on me from all sides and making it impossible to breathe  
"Girls, get that tow truck outta here!" Lennox commanded.  
"Alright we're going we're going." Mikaela snapped back irritatedly as I slid into the drivers seat. We didn't bother with seats belts as I gunned the engine to life, knowing that a seat belt wouldn't do any good against a Decepticon. More fires, more explosions, more showers of dust and rock and I was driving off into the alleyway to get away from it all. The explosions dimmed slightly but I could still hear the dull thuds of the brawling aliens, still see the dust raining down. The fires (coupled with the Nevada sun) were burning against my skin and I was almost sure if I didn't get a darker tan than I already had, I would be burnt to a crisp by the end of the day. Breathing laboured, I took a sharp left, continuing down this confusing maze of back alleys. Where was Sam? Was he caught up in the gunfire ricochetting off of the buildings just on the other side of the walls? Was he hurt? Had he made it yet and set off his flare? Swallowing thickly I tried to think straight, but I just couldn't and abruptly stopped in the middle of the alleyway, banging my head off of the steering wheel and taking a shaky breath in an attempt to calm down. Mikaela placed a consoling hand on my shoulder while I closed my eyes, a few tears slipping down my cheeks and my hands trembling. Mikaela needed me to be strong right now, so did Bumblebee, Sam, all the autobots were counting on us. Looking back at the autobot I saw him blink his glowing blue orbs at me in an adorable way, he gave me a small nod and I understood what he was trying to say - we both wanted to be fighting in the thick of the battle. Looking at Mikaela I inhaled deeply, "I'm about to do something that is probably incredibly stupid." I informed her.

Mikaela blinked at me before throwing the gear stick into drive and nodding confidently,  
"I'm with you." she assured me. Looking down the alleyway I spotted a way out up ahead, and began to drive towards it, turning sharply to the left until we were back on the main road. I looked back at Bee. "I'll drive, you shoot." I instructed. Bee whirred at me and I threw the truck into reverse, flying backwards as I twisted my body (hands still on the wheel) so I could see over my shoulder. We were rocketing towards the tank Decepticon that had now transformed into his robot form and was shooting everything with his machine guns. Mikaela screamed a little when we bashed into the first car but I kept us steady. Weaving around on the road to avoid the Decepticon's blast I looked back at Bee, "Shoot! Shoot!" I cried. The popping sound of Bee's canon filled my ears as we clattered down the street, his broken legs sending up sparks that obscured his aim a bit but we landed some good hits. There were shots coming from a small beaten up diner on the corner and I realised with sickening dread that it was Lennox's team. Bee caught the Decepticon well enough to make him stumble and a few shots from Lennox's team brought him down onto one knee. Before he could get back up, Bee landed a shot right on his chest and I swung us a little towards the diner while the Decepticon collapsed, his spark destroyed.

Screeching to a halt I looked at Mikaela, we were both breathing a little heavily but Mikaela looked paler than me. "You okay?" I asked. She swallowed,  
"You drive like a maniac." she panted. Smiling slightly, I hopped out and patted Bee's arm absent mindedly as I passed him,  
"Nice shot." I complimented. Mikaela was fussing over him as I peeked through the window to try and spot Lennox. One soldier was dead on the floor and Epps and Lennox looked a little banged up but no worse for wear, something which relieved me greatly. A cut in Lennox's hair line had bled profusely down the side of his face (which was smudged with dirt much like everyone elses) and dust caked his hair. There was a thin sheen of sweat covering his face and I imagined it must be hard to run about in all that combat gear in this heat. He'd never looked hotter and I felt my stomach flip a little when my green eyes scanned him over. He stared me down for a minute before finally he said,  
"Thanks." The acknowledgement was more than I had expected but I gave him a small, appreciative nod in return as he and his team scrambled out the windows.  
"The tank is definitely dead now." Epps remarked, slapping the Decepticons large metal head.  
"Okay let's go, we got business!" Lennox declared. He picked the gun up from the dead soldier and handed it to me, "I'm clearly not getting rid of you so you better be able to protect yourself. Aim down this, pull this to fire. Slot these in their to reload and for gods sake don't get your ass shot, got it?" he asked, pointing out the various things as he went with a slightly exasperated expression. Looking it over I nodded, testing the weight of it in my hands and looking at Mikaela,  
"Stay with Bee." I implored. The radio crackled to life again,  
"We've got the boy." a voice informed us. Relief washed through me and made my knees weak. Sam was okay, he was alive and both he and the all spark were in safe hands.

We looked up towards the building, spotting the helicopter hovering just at the side of it... and then a missile hit it's rear end. It spun out of control, taking out the side of the building causing brick to crumble to the ground numerous stories below. A gasp escaped my lips, my muscles locking in place as I froze and stared at the wreckage. The chopper spun straight into another building as it went down and burst into a ball of flame. Sam. Was my brother on that chopper? Had he just gone down with them? Was he currently burning to death? Was the fire melting his skin or had he died quickly? Though I attempted to squash the thoughts I couldn't stop myself from imagining his burning body falling, spiralling, twisting in mid air searching desperately for a saviour that wouldn't come. My heartbeat stuttered in my chest and I struggled to take a breath. The colour had drained from my face and I looked at Lennox, who stared back at me with nothing but remorse written in his features.  
"He might not have been on there." he said finally, breaking up the tense silence between us. My voice was dead, disconnected, my heart had ripped in two but a tiny shred of hope ignited and burned in my stomach, spurring me to continue,  
"I hope for your sake he's not." Lennox grimaced a little and Epps sent me an apologetic look that I ignored, because if he had gotten my brother killed there would be no Decepticon or Autobot alive that would stop me from making him pay.  
"Come on, down this alleyway, we push up the street!" Lennox commanded. Turning I looked at Mikaela,  
"Stay with Bee. Hide in the diner, I will come back for you." I promised, my voice flooded with conviction as I followed after Lennox and his team. It was a long run and though I kept up I was panting heavily as Lennox skidded to a stop, fuelled only by my bitter resentment of the things that were trying to hurt my family. A black hawk fell infront of us, on two legs. We pressed ourselves against the wall, my body pressed close to Epps and staring down at a crouching Lennox.  
"Fighter jets are sixty seconds." Epps informed us while I peeked around the corner to see Optimus fighting against Megatron. If we didn't step in he'd be outnumbered and overpowered by the two Decepticons, he wouldn't stand a chance.

Epps was back on the radio again, giving instructions. "We got friendlies mixed with bad guys, targets will be marked." he advised. Lennox hit his arm with a bitter expression,  
"Bring the rain." he said, a steely glint entering his eyes that I hadn't seen on him before. He saw my questioning gaze and met my eyes with an impassive look that I knew was hiding his grief, "That bastard attacked our air base, he killed our friends." We moved out onto the street, Lennox running in a crouch towards a fallen motorbike with a determined look on his face,  
"Remember the armours weakest under the chest." I chipped in. Lennox gave me an appreciative nod as he struggled to get the bike started. Running over I dropped the gun and fell to my knees. "Honestly." I grumbled under my breath, yanking out more wires to hot wire it for him.  
"Where the hell did you learn all this? MIT doesn't teach you to hot wire shit." he sounded a little awed and I glanced up at him as the bike shuddered to life. I stood up and shook my head,  
"I'm an engineer, any and all kind of mechanics is my stuff. MIT may not teach you everything but you can teach yourself too." I stated. His eyes never left mine and my stomach fluttered under his searching gaze. His face softened,  
"I'll shoot, you drive." he suggested. I knew exactly why he was doing this, it was my one chance to avenge my brother if he had been on that chopper.

Searching his face I looked for any hint of doubt but I found none, he trusted me to do this, was confident that I could. So I agreed, swinging my leg over the bike and revving it. Lennox got on behind me and the bike sunk a bit under our combined weight. One strong capable arm wrapped around my waist and his chest was pressed to my back, sturdy and bulky thanks to the tac vest he had on. His hot breath hit my ear and I forced back a shiver, shaking any and all dirty thoughts from my head to focus on the task at hand. "Let's do this." he insisted. No backing out now. Gritting my teeth I leaned forward, swinging our tail 180 and rocketing off down the street, passing between cars and dodging around people as Epps used a green laser pointer to mark the Decepticon up as a target. The Decepticon spotted it, turned and blew up a car nearby before targeting Lennox's men. I could hear Lennox's squad yelling at each other to retreat a little but didn't pause for a moment. The high pitched whistling of missiles entered my ears and two direct hits made the Decepticon twist and stumble.  
"Skid under him!" Lennox yelled down my ear. I flinched a little, not expecting his sudden outburst but I obediently sank to my left, the bike falling away from us as we slid across the floor. The concrete burned my shorts as friction heated them up, and my leg stung as it scraped across the tarmac. Lifting my right leg off of the floor I attempted to save it as Lennox fired off some rounds, letting out a strange cowboy like yell while we passed right underneath the hulking Decepticon and a thrill ran through me. This was exciting, in a strange and terrifying way. The Decepticon went down with a thud as we finally slowed to a halt. Lennox rolled over off of his back, his excited cries of yeah and woo dieing on his lips as he took in the achievement with a grin.

Sitting up, I twisted my leg to look at the damage and winced. It was badly scraped, shredded even might have been a better description. Little bits of rock had sunk into my skin, long scratches dragged up and down my flesh and dust caked the wound - I didn't dare touch it because already it was throbbing horribly, and each pulsing wave of pain brought a wave of nausea with it too. Lennox was on his feet,  
"Alright move up!" he called back to his men. I forced myself to climb to my feet, but the throbbing in my leg intensified and I struggled to put my weight on it. Groaning, my hand went to my knee,  
"Shit I forgot I was in shorts." Lennox looked over, his eyes zeroing in on my leg and narrowing in a firm glare,  
"You sit this next part out." he pointed at me accusingly as Epps dropped the gun I had left behind into my hands. "You use it when necessarry but you sit out." Lennox repeated, drilling it into me. Shaking my head I moved, forward limping heavily at first before it turned into a more normal walk, the adrenaline pushing away some of the pain I was sure to feel later.  
"My brother may or may not be dead, but either way he's still out there. I won't stop until I find him." I proclaimed, my voice resolute and unwavering despite the agony I was feeling. Out of the blue, a little pontiac solstice appeared beside us, transforming into Jazz who knelt beside me and poked a large finger into my ribs, nearly knocking me off balance.  
"What happened to you sugar?" he quizzed me, glowing blue eyes dimming a little, it was his way of narrowing his eyes. Breathing a little harshly I shrugged,  
"Oh you know, skidding across roads, taking down Decepticons, hotwiring vehicles, the usual." I answered nochalantly. Jazz shook his head a little and Lennox sighed,  
"I'm asking you, please, stay with this guy at least. Your injured and it's on my head if you get hurt anymore." he claimed, genuine sincerity and pleading in his voice. My eyebrows rose a little. He was right, I would only slow them down, at least with Jazz I'd be safe. Another thought crossed my mind, was on her own back at the diner and I had promised to go back for her. But if Sam was up there...My mind was reeling and I gripped the gun tighter, trying to think it through,  
"I'm not military, anything that happens to me is on my head. Jazz, I need you to go back to the diner and find Mikaela." I said finally. Lennox groaned but realised by now there was no getting rid of me, turning his face away and shaking his head,  
"I've never met anyone more stubborn." he grumbled.

Jazz nodded in agreement but transformed and sped off to do as I asked. Half running half limping after Lennox and his team I pressed my back against the rock that had tumbled from a nearby building - it made the perfect full body cover. The soldiers took positions around me as Lennox gave the order,  
"Take him out!" They popped up and began firing instantaneously. My shots were a little slower as I took my time to aim but they hit Megatron at least, and each pop of a landed shot was purely satisfying. Optimus was lieing on the floor, staring at Megatron as missiles plunged into his body, knocking him off balance and buffeting him about as though he were a ship on a stormy sea.  
"Sam!" I heard Optimus call. My eyes widened, Sam was up there, my brother was okay, he was alive and going to live. Popping out from behind my rock again I held my breath, aimed my gun properly and fired, hitting Megatron right in the arm...or maybe that had been Epps. I wasn't too sure but I was going to take the credit for it anyone. A small figure, a human figure thrust something upwards towards Megatron, and I recognised it as the cube. it had to be Sam, Sam was shoving the all spark into Megatron who was absobring it all. He was shuddering, crying out and I felt my jaw drop a little, praying that what I thought was about to happen wouldn't.  
"He's overloading!" I shouted, deciding to warn them just incase. Lennox stared at me, confused. "What happens when you overcharge your phone with massive amounts of power non-stop?" I asked him.  
"The battery weakens, it fries." he answered, eyes widening as the realisation hit him too. "Is he gonna explode?" he asked. Shaking my head I stared anxiously at the scene,  
"I have no clue." I confessed openly. There was something compelling about the scene that I just had to watch, depsite probably needing to get into cover somewhere. A roaring engine, clicking metal and a crackling canon blast later and Jazz was beside me, kneeling before me and the soldiers to protect us form whatever would happen.

Megatron collapsed onto his back, arm flopping to the floor and a groan leaving him before his red eyes dimmed, and then they went out completely in a slightly disappointing there was no explosion, but at the same time...damn no explosion! That would have been cool to see. Optimus stood up, the little human figure staggering forwards. My gun clattered to the floor as we moved up to meet with him, my heart pounding in my chest and tears burning my eyes. "Sam." I murmered. The figure was wearing a familiar brown hoodie and destroyed jeans. Glancing down at myself I noticed I was in a similar position. Shorts frayed and torn and my plaid overshirt ripped to smithereens, blood running down my leg and dust matting up my hair. I discarded my overshirt quickly as the figure moved furthur away, wanting nothing more than for him to be coming towards me instead. I called his name, still limping forward. Sam turned around, tilting his head a little when he saw me, and not caring about the pain in my leg I half ran half hopped forward. "Sam! Sam!" I screamed his name as I reached him, his arms wrapping around me and lifting me off of my feet. A sob of relief escaped me and I buried my head in his neck so he wouldn't see my tears, "You're okay! You're okay!" I repeated over and over as he squeezed me tightly.  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine I promise." he muttered, holding me to him until I pried myself away, sniffing and wiping my eyes while I gently cupped his cheek and ran my thumb just under his eye. There was a thin, long cut above his eyebrow and he was caked in dirt like me aswell. For a moment I noticed the empty silence, echoing and ringing in my ears. No more gunshots, no more missiles whistling and exploding. The dust was settling and the torn up remains of Mission city were slowly becoming visible.

Buildings were missing chunks that were sticking up in jagged shards from the tarmac. Roads were cracked, craters and canyons riddling them as water sputtered up from burst pipes, fires blazed around us and shattered glass covered the street. Turning in a circle I saw Ratchet, Ironhide and Jazz standing around us with Optimus casting a shadow that gave us relief from the barbarian sun.  
"You left me no choice brother." Optimus said sadly, looking down at Megatron who was beside us. He creeped me out and I shuddered a little, stepping a little furthur back from him. Lennox and what was left of his squad made a loose group surrounding us, as though we hadn't just almost died and were instead meeting up for a party. Optimus knelt down before Sam and myself, his face up close and personal to show his sincerity. "Sam, I owe you my life. We are in your debt." his deep voice was soothing and full of genuine compassion. Who knew robots could feel? I was more than suprised when he turned to me. "Ellie, you have shown great courage and knowledge. Your compassion and your morals are a gift, carry them with you always." he stood up, leaving me feeling a little touched with his words. The sound of a rumbling engine filled our ears and we turned to see the tow truck, Mikaela driving in reverse so Bee could see his friends were okay. Looking up at Jazz I grinned a little, limping forward and patting his leg. He knelt down, offering me his hand and I hopped on, grateful to take the weight off of my leg. He sat back on a nearby car that was destined for scrap anyway and held me up so I could watch the show, feeling a rush of affection for the ragtag group before me. Lennox appeared to be smiling at me but when I caught him he quickly looked away, looking elsewhere while I grinned and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.

Mikaela climbed out and stared at Sam, the pair of them smiling at each other like idiots. Finally, they closed the distance and embraced each other tightly, Sam crashing his lips to hers. A grin spread across my face and at the same time me and Jazz both shouted,  
"Get in Sam!" Laughing, I smirked down at my little brother who shot me a glare,  
"Shut up Elianna!" He yelled back. My eyes widened,  
"Oh that's it put me down!" I commanded. "You wanna go?" I demanded, limping towards my brother once I was back on the ground. He took a step back,  
"N-No!" he squeaked. "Save me!" he begged Epps who was standing nearby but I was already on him, jumping on his back and giving him a nuggie so hard he was crying out in pain while I grinned devillishly.  
"What's my name punk?" I imitated Jazz's voice earning a chuckle from the autobot while Sam spun in circles in an attempt to get me off of him.  
"Ellie! Your names Ellie!" He cried, "Gah! Get off of me you elephant!" Grinning I held still, allowing him to pull me off. Mikaela was giggling a little as he scurried back to her, rubbing his head and hiding behind his girlfriend  
"Oh by the way, remind me to tell dad he owes me fifty bucks." I said absent mindedly. Sam frowned,  
"Why?" he enquired curiosly, tilting his head a bit. My lips twitched up in a smirk but I shrugged innocently,  
"Well...you got a girlfriend before you were twenty...I won." I answered. Sam looked at me, flabbergasted.  
"You wagered on my love life?!" he demanded looking horrified. Laughing I rolled my eyes,  
"Sammy, I'm your older sister, it's my job to wager on you." I informed him in a well duh tone.

For the first time since all of this began, I finally allowed myself to relax. We were among friends, we were all safe and relatively unharmed, we were all going home today. Things had worked out, as usual. Breathing a sigh of relief, I felt my heartrate return to normal and smiled a genuinely happy smile as I lifted my face to the light wind and let it blow my stray hair back, more than sure it was looking horrible anyway and hoping it would make it better.  
"We have gained new comrades." Optimus spoke gaining everyones attention, "You honour us with your bravery, thank you." they were relatively simple words, but affective. Silence fell over us all and I glanced around at the small group.  
"What do we do now?" I asked finally. Everyone turned to me and I shrugged a little, glancing around before my eyes landed on a relatively untouched shop that was just missing the store front, "Anyone fancy pizza?" I questioned. The group glanced at one another and just shrugged, a chorus of 'I'm in' coming back to me, making me grin. An overly British voice however broke us up, and I was suprised to find it belonged to Bumblebee,  
"Permission to speak sir?"  
"Permission granted, old friend." Optimus sounded happy to see Bee had his voice back and I couldn't help but smile too.  
"I wish to stay with the boy." he requested, looking at Sam. Jazz stood up,  
"Yeah, I wanna stay with my sugar." he chipped in. My eyes brightened, a grin stretching across my face and a warmth sparking in my chest. Optimus glanced between his comrades and blinked.  
"If that is what they choose." he decided. The two autobots looked at us, but my eyes were only for Jazz. Vaguely I heard Sam say yes, but I was too busy thinking of all the things I could do with Jazz as my car. A sudden thought struck me and I nodded eagerly,  
"Hell yeah." I agreed. "Since I lost my GTO I could do with a new car." I glared at Sam who sighed,  
"Sorry, I know that car was important to you." he mumbled. My eyes rolled,  
"Important is an understatement bro, that car was my baby." I retorted.  
"Hey, are we getting pizza or what! We're starving over here!" looking up I saw it was Lennox calling us. He waved a hand in a come here motion and I smiled, limping in the direction of the battered but still standing pizzeria. Sam and Mikaela walked hand in hand beside me and together, we entered with our new friends to find the store owner look up at us wearily.  
"Whatever you want, it's on the house."

 _ **A/N: Hey everyone! So that's the first movie over and done with, but don't worry there's still a lot more to come! This story will continue into Revenge of The Fallen aswell, and yes, Jazz will be in that one too because he is my favourite autobot. Since I haven't said it before I think no would be a good time to say that unfortunately I do not own anything to do with Transformers, I only own my character Ellie, and a few OC's coming up you have yet to meet.  
Best Wishes, **_

_**Jess :D**_


	10. Chapter 10: NEST

Will Lennox's Point of View:

The house was fairly expensive looking and I imagined their parents must have had a good salary at some point in their life. It was a murky shade of brown, a suburban house with a prim and neat front garden that appeared to be well looked after. The familiar canary yellow camaro and silver Pontiac Solstice sat on the drive as I walked up to the front door and knocked. The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman with a strangely plump face and red hair tied up in a bun, grey eyes that reminded me of the boys drilling through me like she was trying to find out all my secrets with a single glance.  
"Hello?" she sounded cautious and the loud shouts of an argument were drifting down the stairs. Clearing my throat I clasped my hands behind my back,  
"Mrs Witwicky?" I asked. She nodded her head and I continued, "I'm looking for your daughter, Ellie." Her eyes widened slightly and she laughed, a high pitched irritating sound that drilled right through my eardrums, but I forced a polite smile onto my face in an effort to get on her good side.  
"Oh! Thank goodness, I thought we were in trouble." she laughed and stepped to the side, inviting me in and moving furthur into the house towards what I presumed to be the kitchen. She must have been an overly cautious woman considering I was dressed down in jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket and didn't look at all imposing as I did in my military uniform, not that Ellie would complain I was sure, I'd caught her looking often enough. Shutting the door behind me I rolled my eyes a little at the womans overly cheerful manner but followed behind her, taking the seat she gestured to at the island in the kitchen and inhaling the smell of cookies baking in the oven - nothing said home like fresh baked cookies.

She glanced over her shoulder at me, moving about the kitchen and flicking on a kettle along the way,  
"I can't tell you how nice it is to meet you! I'm glad she finally met someone, and you look so decent to! But she hasn't mentioned you too us at all, would you like something to drink?" she asked, cutting herself off mid babble. Shaking my head I politely declined,  
"But I would like to see Ellie if possible." I added, reiterating my earlier request. A man walked in then, rather portly with greying hair and beady looking eyes that were narrowed in annoyance. He was almost growling when he ambled in,  
"Honestly the gardens still a wreck, that damn car-" Mrs Witwicky hushed him quickly, eyes flickering to me as she hollered for Ellie to try and cover for him. "Oh right, who the hell are you?" he asked, cocking his head quizzically.  
"Ron! Don't be so rude." Mrs Witwicky scolded. He rolled his eyes and I straightened slightly in my seat, trying to clamp down on the irritation that was flaring up.  
"Sorry, who the hell are you please?" he amended.  
"What do you want mom because I'm telling you if you yell at me on more time for not leaving the house often enough I'm gonna hit the roof!" the voice sent a wave of déja vu over me, it was one that I had argued with frequently just three months ago to the day. Part of me wondered if she'd remember me at all, I hoped she would...the other half scolded myself for thinking that way.

Mrs Witwicky narrowed her eyes while handing her husband a cup of tea,  
"That's no way to talk to your mom, now get down here or I'll beat the crap out of you." she barked. My eyebrows rose a little and I heard footsteps stomping on the stairs. This family was...pretty atypical, no wonder she had a rebellious streak. Ellie had her head buried in a tablet as she walked in,  
"What do you want, I told you I'm busy!" she exclaimed frustratedly.  
"With what, your unemployed!" her farther shot back with a killer glare on his face,  
"With job hunting!" she snapped, looking up finally. Her eyes widened as she looked me up and down, her green eyes brightening and her deer in the headlights expression making me chuckle. "Oh...Will, hi!" she breathed, cheeks flushing bright red. Her mother laughed,  
"I knew it! Look at that blush, she's got a secret man! Oh don't they look adorable together Ron?" her mother babbled. Ellie looked even more embarrassed as I fought down the urge to correct her.  
"Mom he is not...we are not a thing." she groaned. She gestured between us and shook her head as my eyebrows rose again and I tried to smother my smirk with my hand. "Mom no, stop it! I er..I asked him to come pick me up and he said he'd take me to lunch, so we're going now!" she said suddenly, grabbing me and dragging me towards the door, not even stopping to put on her shoes before she dragged me outside and towards the Pontiac Solstice I remembered. She'd kept him in great condition, yet more testimony to her skills. I got in without arguing, noticing her mother had hurried to the door and thrown a wooden spoon at her as we fled the crazy house. She patted the steering wheel and the engine came to life, the car speeding off without her touching anything.

She sat back, leaning her head against the headrest with a groan. "I am so so sorry you had to go through that." she apologised profusely, cheeks still flushed with embarrassment but for her sake I wave it off.  
"No problem...your mothers a bit much though." I admitted. She sighed,  
"They both are." she grumbled. "It's nice to see you again, but I assume you came for a reason." she guessed, a small smile tugging on her lips as she pulled on her shoes. I took my time to look her over then, inhaling the citrus scent from the damn pine tree hanging from the mirror and catching a faint whiff of her natural vanilla scent. She looked different compared to the Ellie I had met in the thick of the battle, cleaner for one but she looked older too. She still favoured skinny jeans but today's were white, tan leather boots matching them nicely and the small heel added an inch of height I imagined. She still favoured her plaid overshirt and tank tops, today's combination was black and red and suited her nicely. Her hair was shorter, she must have had it cut and she'd added some dip dye to it at some point. Now the brunette locks I remembered faded into a ombre colour that she'd braided down her right shoulder. Damn did she look good. Then again, she'd looked just as good covered in blood, sweat and dust kicking alien ass back in Mission City.  
"I did." I confirmed. "You look good, different, but good." I complimented, unable to stop my eyes from tracing over her again.

She smiled a little,  
"Thanks, you clean up pretty nice yourself.I only ever really saw you covered in blood sweat and dust." she laughed a little, seemingly reading my mind. The radio clicked on,  
"I'm sexy and I know it." the bass blasted throughout the car and Ellie slammed her hand down on the off button with a grin,  
"Shut up Jazz, private conversation, autbot ears out pal." she chastised playfully, an affectionate gleam in her eye. "What is it you need from me then Will?" she queried. Clearing my throat I shook my head a little to get myself back in the game, and clear my head of all the things I would have liked to say she 'needed' to do for me.  
"Actually, I came to offer you something." I revealed. "How about we get that lunch first?" I asked, feeling brave. She looked suprised but nodded, agreeing to it in a quiet voice. "You'll have to suggest somewhere though, I have no clue what's good around here." I confessed. She grinned,  
"Jazz, head to the usual will you? Thanks pal." she patted the steering wheel affectionately and it was easy to see she still loved the autobot just as much as before. We sat in silence for a while and I watched the scenery pass by and change as we pulled into a parking lot, a little restaurant in red was sat on the corner of a row of shops that seemed to seel everything but the kitchen sink. Ellie then lead the way into the small Italian place and I glanced around appreciatively, deciding I quite liked California so far. We took a seat by the window and flicked through the menu's, placing our orders before we chit-chatted some more. "So...how's Epps?" she enquired. Nodding my head I told her he was fine, we'd both had some recognition for our efforts and I'd been promoted for it. She grinned, "Nice one major." she stressed the rank and I couldn't help but chuckle slightly.  
"Yeah, it is pretty nice." I agreed. "What have you been up to? Your dad mentioned you were unemployed." I pointed out. She sighed and nodded, starring bitterly at the table,  
"Yeah, you would have thought that somebody'd want to snap up an MIT graduate but no, apparently not. My dads been on my ass about it for the past few weeks, says I need to be contributing to the household if I want to continue living there." she answered, her voice holding a hint of regret even though she tried to shrug it off.

Frowning a little, I watched the waitor slide our food and drinks onto the table for us before leaving again. Ellie (who in my previous experience was seemingly always hungry) dug in, stabbing at her ravioli and chewing thoughtfully while pinning me with a look that demanded I spill it. I twirled some spaghetti on my fork, trying to find the right words to say before I began.  
"You remember Sector 7?" I quizzed. She nodded once. "They shut it down." I informed her. Her eyebrows rose,  
"They sacked our friend?" she enquired and I knew she was referring to Agent Simmons. Chuckling I nodded,  
"Yes they did." I confirmed. "But they opened up a new branch in it's place. Non- biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty, or NEST for short." I explained. "It took a while to set up since it's in such a remote location but it's ready for action now, we're planning on hunting down the rest of the decepticons together with the autobots. However since Mission City...more have come down to help us, they're politcal refugees now. Frankly, we get hurt on missions and we need a database set up to compile all the information they give us and to catalogue anything we might find. Ratchet wants a hand to patch up the autobots faster, Optimus requested that if we're going to make a database it be written in their language to preserve their heritage and make sure only a few people can read it...by a few people I mean they've been teaching myself and Epps and to be perfectly candid, after all they've done for us we don't really want to deny the autobots the chance to save what's left of their race and it's memory. General Morshower put me as head of operations which means I get to pick new recruits, and after discussing it with the autobots...well I want to offer you the job." I informed her.

She looked stunned, taking a moment to process it all as she slowly sipped at her water. She sat forward finally, popping another ravioli in her mouth and swallowing it fast.  
"Why me?" she enquired, tilting her head curiously to the side. The light caught her hair perfectly, making it shimmer in the sunlight that was beginning to fade into the late afternoon sky, the light made her skin glow. Mission City had given her a rich tan that still blessed her skin with a beautiful bronze colour. The sky outside was a burnt orange, casting shadows throughout the place as the sun set. The lights flickered on and bright bulbs just seemed to make her features sharper, more lethal looking despite her kind nature - she could never be lethal out of malice. Simply put, she was gorgeous. Pushing the thoughts from my head I shrugged, scooping up another forkful of spaghetti and popping it into my mouth,  
"The autobots trust you, and let's face it you're pretty smart. Their willing to trust you with everything they are Ellie, teach you how to fix them, teach you how to find your way around their circuits." I pressed. I wanted her to say yes, and 95% of the reasons why were entirely selfish. I wanted to be able to get to know her. She had been popping in ravioli as I spoke and the plate was already cleared, leaving her with the dilema of having to answer me now. I shovelled more spaghetti in, feeling my own stomach grumble for it while I waited. She looked deep in thought, trying to wrap her head around it all.  
"I'd just have to help Ratchet fix them up? Learn another language?" she double checked. Nodding my head I swallowed a mouthful of food and added,  
"You'd have to go through weapons training and hand to hand combat skills to, just to be on the safe side since it's a military base. You'll be the only civillian there. The other technicians are all military." She frowned a little at that, looking slightly less comfortable about it. Finishing off my meal I sat back, swigging from my bottle of beer and letting her take her time to draw her own conclusions.

Watching her carefully, I took note of the way her eyes brightened and dimmed as her emotions and thoughts conflicted. She drummed her fingers against the table and she almost bounced in her seat she was tapping her foot so fast. Ellie had originally drew me in with her sharp tongue, quick wit and stubborness, she had been undeniably brilliant in Mission City. She'd kept her cool and kept going, despite looking exhausted and that was something that I hadn't expected from an untrained civillian - we'd all been more than a little tired at the end and personally I'd slept for a solid fourteen hours after I'd finally gotten home.  
"When do I start?" she asked finally with an excited smile. Chuckling I smirked back at her,  
"As soon as possible. Say next week sometime I'll call you with the details?" I suggested. She nodded eagerly and I found her enthusiasm infectious, involuntarily grinning back at her. "Great! Hey, how's that leg?" I asked, suddenly remebering the injury she'd sustained during the battle. She looked suprised I'd even remembered and mentally I sighed - if only she knew she'd plagued my every thought for the past few months.  
"Long since healed." she dismissed it, "Left some pretty ugly scars though. Shorts are definitely out this summer." she scrunched up her nose and I smiled a little,  
"You that embarrassed of your battle scars?" I teased lightly. She rolled her eyes,  
"It's not that I'm embarrassed...my mother would be fussing over me day and night if she knew. It was agony to keep myself from limping around the house in the first few weeks and hide that damn bandage." she grumbled, shaking her head slightly. "Can we have desert or do you have somewhere to be?" she questioned, eyebrow raising. Smiling I shook my head,  
"Nope, go ahead." I gestured to the menus and watched her scan it, eyes lightening when she saw what she wanted while I called the waitor over.  
"Brownie fudge sundae please." she said decisively,  
"Will you be needing two spoons madam?" the waitor asked. She scoffed,  
"Oh please this ones all for me." she stated as I cut in with a yes. She narrowed her eyes at me and I smirked,  
"Hey, I want a brownie!" I defended myself.

We both collapsed into laughter and when it eventually died down, I found the ensuing silence to be the comfortable kind. I was reminded again of all of the reasons she'd caught my eye in Mission City. Strong, brave, smart and beautiful, she was the whole package, what the hell was I doing employing her and giving myself zero chance to know her like I wanted to? "You know this training could be tough." I mused, reffering to her new job. She raised an eyebrow,  
"I love a challenge." she retorted playfully,  
"I know, it's written all over your face but I'm just saying you can train with me or Epps if you like, some of the other boys might not be so lenient." I warned. She nodded a little, looking like a wise old owl with her somber expression,  
"That'd be good." she admitted before a devillish grin spread across her face. "Besides, I remember seeing you all sweaty before, it was a good look on you." she joked. My eyebrows rose and I almost choked on my drink, making her laugh harder. Well if she was going to play that game...  
"Well if I remember correctly my view wasn't so bad either." I retaliated. An amused expression settled over her face,  
"What? The underside of a decepticon? I didn't know you swung that way." she shot back, the playful glint in her eye infectious. She'd got me there, I couldn't quite think of how to respond and was thankfully saved by the arrival of desert. The waitor glanced between us as he set it down but said nothing as he walked away. Ellie dug in quickly, a large scoop of brownie, ice cream and hot chocolate fudge sauce all going into her mouth. She sighed contentedly. "Damn that's good." she mumbled as I took my own spoonful. She was right, it melted in your mouth in a delicious blend of chocolate, vanilla and crunchy chocolate chips to add some texture, the brownise going gooey as they melted under the sauce. Nodding in agreement we ate in silence for a while, half of the huge sundae glass gone before we knew it.

Glancing up at her I tilted my head, deciding it was payback time and feelig rather mischievious.  
"You got something on your nose." I informed her. She frowned a little, hand reaching up to wipe it away,  
"Is it gone?" Shaking my head I tapped my nose, watching her scrub at it and trying not to smirk. "Oh come on help me out." she whined childishly. Chuckling I leaned across the table, swiping up some melted ice cream with my finger and dashing it across her nose. She recoiled in shock as I laughed, the metled vanilla ice cream dripping from her nose onto the table. Her shoulders shook and for a moment I thought she was about to start crying before she joined in with me, our laughter echoing off of the walls. Customers had been in and out over the past few hours but now we were the only people left, so we didn't particularly have to worry about winding anyone up...not that it would have bothered us anyone. Wiping off the ice cream she threw the tissue at me with comically bad aim, "Not funny Will!" she cried but her smile was still present. Shrugging I leaned back in my chair, sighing when I checked my watch,  
"I should probably get you home unless I want your dad to kick my ass." I said, but even to my ears it sounded reluctant. She looked just as reluctant and I wondered briefly if she'd had as much fun as I had. Shutting the thoughts down I shook them away. She was about to become my co-worker! I couldn't have a relationship with a co-worker!  
"Yeah, I suppose so." she agreed but her face told me she really just didn't want to go.

Callling the waitor over I got out my wallet and saw her smirk a little,  
"I'll pay you for my half when we get back to my house. I kind of left in a hurry." she reminded me. I rolled my eyes,  
"My mom raised a gentleman Miss Witwicky, I wasn't going to let you pay anyway." I revealed with a chuckle. She frowned,  
"No way! I can't let you pay for lunch I'll feel bad! I mean...it cost more than five dollars!" she protested. My eyebrows rose,  
"Yeah it did...but I'm still paying." I stated, handing over the bills to the waitor and receiving my change before she could protest furthur. We stood up and she sighed,  
"You're so stubborn." she mumbled under her breath. Smiling to myself I couldn't help but point out,  
"Excuse me, but who refused to follow my orders in Nevada?" She grinned up at me,  
"Yeah but I had an excuse, my brother was in danger." she dismissed the claim like she were swatting away a fly.  
"Oh yeah? What's in danger this time?" I countered. She pursed her lips for a minute but finally came back with,  
"My reputation. Strange men buying me dinner? Word gets around my neighbourhood fast." she joked. Laughing with her I opened the driver side door for her and watched her climb in, being the gentleman I claimed to be. Jazz brought the car to life, opening my door for me and shutting it behind me. That was one thing I loved about the autobots, no more opening and closing doors, it saved so much time and with Ironhide as my personal chauffeur I was often in a tank that could think for itself, and it was great to drive past all the boy racers with that knowledge.

The ride back to the Witwicky house was mostly in silence, but it was a light silence, neither of us feeling burdened to speak.  
"Have you got a pen?" I asked, realising she'd need my number. She patted her pockets down before producing one, something I knew she'd have if she was anything like Epps. "We should swap numbers so I can contact you. Optimus'll probably give Jazz the co-ordinates next week anyway but this way you'll know where you're going and we can organise a day." I reasoned. She nodded and hunted around for a while before frowning and finally asking,  
"Jazz? Where'd I put that notepad?" The autobot opened up the glove compartment and blasted it out into my lap, shutting the compartment again. Thanking him, she grabbed it and scribbled her number down for me. Her writing was that messy inventores scrawls that I recognised from tech's such as Epps, it allowed them to write many ideas in a short space of time but was next to impossible to read unless you were a techie yourself. In return, I wrote down my number too so she'd recognise it and handed it back. "You know most men would ask for a girls number before the date." she teased. My heart skipped a beat in my chest and I forced myelf to remain calm.  
"Who said this was a date?" I asked, glancing at her curiously. Perhaps it was my overactive imagination but I could have sworn I saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.  
"Well we had a good night and swapped numbers at the end of it, the only thing missing was alcohol." she was joking again but I could have sworn I heard the flat note of regret in her voice.  
"Trust me, go on a date with me and you'll know." I smirked sounding far cockier than I felt. Her eyebrows rose but she said nothing, merely smothered a smile with her hand and turned her gaze out of the window. We pulled up on the driveway and sat in silence for a moment.

Finally, Ellie sighed and turned to look at me, a small smile playing on her lips,  
"Hey...I know this wasn't really planned but, I had fun this afternoon...thank just for the dinner but the job." her voice was quiet and captivating, I found myself nodding slightly and repeating the sentiment as if compelled to. Truthfully, this was a classic case of mixing business with pleasure, I had come here on a job and I had stayed for what could technically be classed as a date. Did I want it to be a date? She was good looking definitely, funny too but I barely knew her. That didn't mean I didn't want to know her either but we were going to be working together! It was inappropriate to think that way now.  
"I'll see you some time next week I suppose...Welcome to the team Miss Witwicky." I congratulated her, extending a hand for her to shake. Hers was smaller but fit in mine perfectly, the soft smooth skin contrasting my own calloused flesh.  
"Pleasures all mine Major." she replied. Another silence fell over us and the radio clicked on again, this time the song choice was even more awkward and I could feel the tips of my ears burning,  
 _"And they call it, puppy love."_ Ellie blushed furiously and we both quickly clambered out of the car. She glared at Jazz a little and slapped the bonnet a little harder than necessary. "I'll see you next week, thank you again, for everything." she reiterated. Nodding, I waved before heading to the bottom of the drive to get on my bike. Since Mission City I'd fell in love with bikes, the speed and exhillirating feeling of the wind rushing past you...So I'd bought myself a nice little Yamaha in ruby red. Pulling on my helmet I looked up to see Ellie disappear inside her house, but she was still watching out the window. A smirk twitched my lips upward while I gunned the engine to life...things were about to get fun at NEST.


	11. Chapter 11: Let Me Go

A/N: Hey Guys! Thank you for all of the reviews so far! It's been great seeing how much you like the story and the way it's unfolding. There's a lot of Guest reviews so I don't know who those belong to, either way thank you for your continued support. Thank you also to QuietRose-13 for wishing me luck with my studies...there's a lot of homework so I'm going to need it, haha! Pluv143000, I'm sorry you don't like the song XD, me neither if I'm honest but it fit the moment so I went with it, and the last chapter was in Lennox's point of view, not Ellie's, however if you wanted her to have some interaction with Arcee and her sisters then I could add something in?  
Anyway, here's the next chapter! We haven't had some Ellie and Jazz bonding so I thought this would be a good time to add it in ;)

Ellie's Point of View:

My mother wasn't happy. Currently, Judy Witwicky was on a warpath and rampaging around the house, snapping at anything and everything that got in her way as she ranted and raved about ungrateful children with a death wish. I wasn't going to listen to that of course and so I'd left, letting Jazz choose the destination and hopping in the drivers seat, stewing with silent fury. It had been almost a week since Will had taken me out to dinner which meant I was waiting impatiently for the details of my new job. I'd told my parents this morning that I was finally employed, that I'd finally be getting a pay check and be out from under their feet. When I had told them I would be a civillian contractor on a classified military base however they had exploded, not exactly the reaction I was hoping for. I understood their concern and I was grateful they didn't want to see me get hurt but this was _my_ choice, and they had been harping on at me for months now to get a job anyway! They weren't really all that keen on me working with the autobots either, not that they knew the full details of what had happened in Mission City - Sector Seven (before their shut down) had kept them busy asking nonesense questions for them to really notice anything out of the ordinairy. As far as our parents were concerned Sam and I had special cars that the government wanted to keep an eye, they were still in denial about the fact that they were alien. The battle for Mission City had never made it onto the news anyway so only the people who had been there truly knew what happened.

Jazz had been playing some music softly in the background but abruptly turned it off and opened the door to let me out. Blinking in suprise I looked around to find we were out near the outskirts of town, the dusty road was off of the beaten track and lead to a small cliff face viewing point, looking out over the sparkling ocean. There was a beach a few miles down on the left but I didn't feel like spending time with so many people; a secluded spot with my favourite autobot and most trusted confident would do nicely. Slipping out I stood back, watching as Jazz transformed and sat himself down on the dusty ground, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff and his hand open for me to sit on. I climbed up and stared out over the ocean with a frustrated sigh - it was a beautiful scene and despite my current anger I could still appreciate it. The sun was setting, dipping beyond the horizon and shooting brilliant rays of burnt orange through the pink clouds, glistening off of the ocean and making the water sparkle. It was so off of the beaten path here that the only noise was the grating of metal while Jazz swung his one leg back and forth, that and the lapping of the waves against the cliff face below. He lay his hand ontop of his knee, letting me sit on the edge with him and lean against his finger.

Sighing to myself I closed my eyes, breathing deeply and allowing the gentle breeze to caress my skin. It was a lot warmer now we were into summer and I relished in the chance to wear my short shorts and bikini top without being judged by Cordelia for my pale stomach - after my time in Mission and with a summer long vacation where I could tan myself I was a very rich brown colour by now and knew she'd be proud.  
"I could have kept driving you know sugar." Jazz said eventually, not one for prolonged silence. Humming to myself I opened my eyes to look up at him, seeing the soft blue glow of his own eyes staring down at me, "What bugged you so bad?" he asked, his usually playfully tone almost sounding concerned.  
"How about parents that can't make up their minds about whether or not they're happy with you?" I suggested bitterly. Jazz's chuckle rumbled through his metal structure and I felt my bones vibrating. "I mean, they wanted me to get a job right? They've done nothing but yell at me though since I told them this morning!" I groaned. The whir of metal machinery filled my ears as Jazz tilted his head at me,  
"They don't like the fact you're working but want you to work? Man that's messed up." he said, sounding almost as disgruntled as I felt.

His street vernaculer just made me smile and I patted his hand with a giggle, nodding my head in agreement. "So you're not working with us then?" he questioned, sounding slightly flat. My eyebrows rose a bit and I scoffed,  
"Like I've ever done what they wanted me to do." I shook my head at him and turned sideways on, one leg bent and the other swinging freely as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again, "I'm taking this job, and I'm going to love it." I said firmly. Jazz brought up one of his large metal fingers, lightly nudging my swinging leg (so as not to knock me off balance) like a child would,  
"Because I'm there right sugar?" he asked, big shoulders shaking with his laughter. Snorting I kicked his finger, knowing that to him it was the equivalent of a slap on the arm due to my size,  
"Of course Jazz, wherever you are is where I want to be." I cried dramatically. As usual Jazz had managed to calm me down. Jazz was quickly becoming more than just my guardian. He had been a constant presence in my life for the last three months and was the embodiement of a best friend. I hadn't heard from Coredlia since I'd called her up after the Mission City fiasco and she said she'd call me back, her parents had been in a café as we lay waste to the city and although her mother was recovering nicely her farther was still in critical condition last I had heard. She hadn't replied to any of my calls since despite the fact I'd left numerous messages so I was assuming the worst.

Jazz however was constantly here for me, always willing to talk to me or take me out to have some fun...by that I mean that we headed down to the old abandoned factory where this adventure had all began to do donuts and skids and such the like. Jazz had also been teaching me a bit of the autobots language, scrawling symbols in the dirt for me to translate - it'd been quite useful really since it would give me a rudimentary understanding of the mammoth task that lay ahead of me when I entered my new job. Jazz was truly part of my family now and I loved him to death already, if anybody hurt my autobot there would be hell to pay.  
"Or maybe you like the idea of being so close to a certain soldier." Jazz rumbled thoughtfully, his deep voice resonating in my ears as my cheeks turned pink. Sitting up straight I looked at him, cocking my head and trying to act nochalant. Jazz blinked his big blue eyes at me and shrugged his shiny shoulders, "Sugar I don't need Ratchet's freaky sense of smell to know your pheremones are screaming come and get it." he said. My blush deepened, cheeks now burning bright red as I gasped, trying to think of a way to come back at that when I knew he had me cornered. Truthfully, I had tried not to think of Will since he'd left last week but found that more often than not he was creeping into my thoughts. I could still remember the way he'd playfully flirted with me, the way he'd dashed the ice cream across my nose and laughed so hard at my reaction his nose had scrunched up in this really cute way that reminded me of a sneezing cat - lolcatz were pretty much my life and the only thing I used my laptop for these days. I know I know, what a sad existence.

Shaking my head rigorously I denied it with a sigh, knowing Jazz was maybe more right than I wanted to believe,  
"Lennox is attractive sure, but... I am _not_ sending out come and get it signals!" I insisted. Jazz made a disgruntled noise and lifted his hand so I was eye level with him,  
"You can't tell me you don't like him sugar." he persisted stubbornly, "And he likes what he sees! No man we ever met when we're out together eyes you up like he does, and he doesn't care who sees it." My cheeks flushed again and I mentally scolded myself for the flutter of pleasure that I got from that bit of information. It was nice to know I was appreciated by someone given my parents lack of enthusiasm for my presence at the moment.  
"Jazz, Lennox is a great guy sure...but he's also going to be my boss now. Starting a relationship with him would be like Optimus starting one with one of the female autobots you go on about." I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest. I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of triumph in his eyes,  
"So you admit you want a relationship?" he continued to badger me as my phone rang out loud and proud. Groaning I turned my attention to that, shooting a look at Jazz that said to be quiet and then turning my eyes to the last of the sunset, seeing the burnt orange fading into blackness as night fell over California.

Pulling my phone to my ear I leaned back against Jazz's finger again and checked the caller ID, feeling my heart skip a beat in my chest,  
"Hello?" I tried to keep my tone neutral but I was slightly creeped out he'd called. He didn't have ears on us did he? Oh god I hoped not.  
"Ellie, it's Will." his voice was as calm as mine and I suspected that also meant he was as stressed as I was and was trying to hide it. "I said I'd call some point this week...sorry it's so late." he chuckled. Shaking my head I swung my legs back and forth,  
"No problem, I just chewed my nails down to stubs." I retorted jokingly. "How's things?" I asked, referring to his many autobot friends wherever it was in the world I'd be working with them. He sighed a bit on the other end and I raised an eyebrow, "Stressful?" I guessed.  
"You could say that." he agreed with a mirthless chuckle, "Most of the technicians will be in the same boat as you when you arrive but one of thems a pain in the ass, you're going to love him. If that hasn't put you off though, Optimus will be sending Jaz co-ordinates tomorrow for the meeting point, we'll pick you up in a cargo plane and bring you to the base the day after." Frowning slightly I quietly agreed, wondering how best to tell my family, how best to tell Sam. Since coming home from MIT and with everything that happened with the autobots we'd become as close as we had always been again, if not closer, and now I had to leave and forefit all of that. "You sound just as stressed as me." Lennox said, silently inviting me to get whatever it was off of my chest. As much as I loved my baby brother I couldn't spend the rest of my life pandering to him, he was grown up now for one and I had my own life to live. Working with the autobots was my dream job! Advanced engineering, learning another language...but it took me so far away from my family.

Sighing to myself I shrugged it off, dismissing it casually and feeling Jazz nudge me in the back to get my attention. I turned to look at him to see a huge metal finger pointed at the phone and rolled my eyes a bit, he was like an overly protective brother sometimes,  
"I'm okay...my parents just didn't take to kindly to the job offer...and would you stop poking me Jazz it's just Lennox!" I exclaimed frustratedly. Lennox laughed at me down the phone and I felt a smile creep up onto my face when I heard his laugh, it was just so heartwarming and genuine I had to smile.  
"Jazz jealous someone else is taking your attention?" Lennox questioned teasingly. Snorting I rolled my eyes,  
"Jazz is jealous of the sun because it's the one thing the world revolves around and not him." I replied, feeling another poke at my back. "Jazz!" I cried. Lennox just laughed again,  
"I get the hint, I'll leave you pair to it. Is two days from now alright for you or do you need a little longer to sort out your family affairs?" he questioned. I doubted there was anyway that could happen and laughed lightly,  
"I appreciate the offer but I'll be okay. I just might be covered in bruises when my mom batters me with her beloved rolling pin." Lennox promised to have Ratchet on standby for me when we got there before informing me that I would have enough room in my on base accomodation to bring about two duffel bags worth of stuff, then he bid me farewell and hung up.

Exhaling slowly I turned to Jazz, looking up at the autobot who tilted his head quizzically down at me,  
"Well? What's crackin' sugar?" he prompted. Glancing back out over the now starry sky I smiled slightly,  
"We're leaving for the base in two days. Optimus is going to get in touch with you and send you the coordinates tomorrow." I informed him. Jazz fist pumped the air and I knew without having to ask that he was happy to be going back to his autobot brethren. He loved being with me and being my guardian, but they were still his family and I knew he missed them terribly in his own way. "They're taking us by cargo plane...seems the base is pretty isolated, I guess it's some sort of island." I added thoughtfully. Jazz set me down on my feet and I knew he was thinking what I was thinking. We had to face the family. Grating metal and the whoosing noise of the sliding panels on his body echoed through the night air as they gracefully slid into place until my little Pontiac Solstice was back, opening the drivers side door for me so I could climb in and lie down on the front seat, my hands behind my head as I relaxed and let Jazz do the driving.  
 _"Farewell, somebody's gonna miss you."_ the radio sang. Grimacing, I nudged my foot against the upholstery and sighed,  
"I know Jazz but this is _my_ life, I've got to make my own decisions and if they don't like it...well they'll have to deal with it somehow because I want this."

Jazz quickly changed to a more upbeat song and I smiled again, patting the dashboard absent mindedly in approval. Jazz always knew just what to do to make me feel better, and All Time Low was definitely the best way to do that. By the time I got home my parents were all set to shout at me some more for walking out in the middle of a discussion but I firmly told them that there was nothing to discuss and proceeded to lock myself in my room. It was only at two in the morning that mom finally gave up and let me go to sleep, not that she wasn't back to banging on my door again at seven and trying to make me come out. I spent the morning ignoring her as best I could, cranking up my music to drown out the sounds of her shouting and banging. Honestly it was quite upsetting, I wanted my parents to be proud of me but dad was as passive as ever and mom just wasn't being too cooperative in that department. I was twenty four for christsakes! I was a grown woman and I could make my own decisions! As a result, packing had come to a stand still and I was simply staring forlornly at my ceiling. I didn't want my last few days at home to be spent fighting against my parents but dad wouldn't stand up to mom and get her to back off, and mom was just mom. I still needed to talk to-  
"Ellie open the window!" a voice bellowed from outside. I jumped so bad I fell off of the side of my bed and hit the floor with a thud. Staring up in shock I saw Sam sat in Bumblebee's hand outside of my bedroom had a tray of food in his hands and when I opened the window he passed it through, raising an eyebrow at me quizzically. "Can you turn that down!" he yelled, nodding at my stereo.

Placing the tray on my desk I headed over and turned it down, hearing the banging grow louder as my mother screamed at me to let her in so she could confiscate my bags. I already had half a duffel bag full of my engineering manuals packed but that was all. Sam frowned, headed to the door and began pleading with mom to back off and let him talk to me instead. Though sounding disgruntled she suprisingly agreed and I let out a sigh of relief. Truthfully, I was beginning to get a headache from blasting my music so loud. The smell of freshly cooked bacon made my stomach growl and Sam smiled slightly, handing me a plate from the tray. There was a stack of bacon pancakes waiting for me with a jug of maple syrup between us. I was sat on the edge of my bed facing Sam (who had sat in my desk chair) while we ate our breakfast in silence. Sam had cooked them to perfection and my smile told him so while I sipped on a cold glass of OJ.  
"Thank you for bringing breakfast." I said finally, my voice quiet yet echoing in the silence of my room. Sam just shrugged, eyes penetrating through me like laser beams. Just like always, he seemed to know exactly how I was feeling and moved over to pull me into a hug, leaning us back against the wall and gently running his hand down my hair,  
"Mom's way out of line, but she's doing it because she loves you." he said quietly, "We all do...we don't want to see you get hurt."

Nodding into his chest I bit my lip, inhaling deeply and taking comfort in the smell of his deodrant. He smelled a lot better since he'd been dating Mikaela and I was so grateful for it, there was only so much stench of boy sweat I could take, you know? Closing my eyes I decided not to look at his face, guessing I'd see concern in his eyes that would make my resolve waver.  
"I know that, and I love you all for being concerned...but this is something I really want to do." I insisted, sitting up and looking at him with pleading eyes, "Sam this is the opportunity of a lifetime! I get to work with the autobots and that's-that's engineering that even the best engineers are never going to get to see! I really want to do this and it's not like I'll be going into the thick of battle with them. I can't stay here forever Sammy." Sam nodded, holding his hands up in surrender and a ghost of a smile crossing his lips. The sun was streaming in through the window and warming up my room and I had to open the window a little wider to let in the breeze to cool us down.  
"I know, which is why I'm not angry at you for wanting to do it...moms just concerned and you know what she's like. Honestly I only came up here to see if you wanted a hand packing." he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepihsly. Blinking in suprise I felt that warm and fuzzy feeling in my gut that reminded me just how much I loved my brother. He got up (now towering over me) and peeked into my duffel bag, clicking his tongue in a disgusted manner and shaking his head, "You really need to pack some clothes." he chastised.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop the smile that fought its way onto my face. Sam was always the one that understood me best. Sam knew what I was passionate about and encouraged me to do it, he knew that when I had a nightmare I wouldn't go back to sleep without a glass of milk and was always the one to bring one to me, he understood why I got into fights at school as a kid, he was wise beyond his years and knew me well enough to know that now I had my mind set on it there was no stopping me.  
"I'll take my underwear draw if you take my photo's down for me and put them in that plastic wallet there." I suggested, waving my hand absent mindedly at the wall above my bed. Sam nodded his head and set to work as I turned my music back on, feeling better now I knew somebody was on my side. We worked diligently, packing away the things I would need and the things I was taking for home comfort. We stood back three hours later, admiring the two duffel bags worth of luggage I had and the blank walls that was now my childhood bedroom, we simultaneously sighed. Glancing up at him, I nudged his arm with my shoulder and smiled, "Thanks for your help Sammy."  
"No problem." he chuckled, running a hand through his short curls. "I can't quite believe this is it...you know, no coming back back from this kind of thing. You're really moving out." he said, voice unwavering despite the slight frown on his face.

Pulling him into a hug I kissed his cheek, a rare display of affection since we were more likely to insult each other than kiss each other,  
"It doesn't mean I'm gone for good. I'll call and let you know how I am and visit when I have time off." I promised, ruffling his hair. Sam jerked back with a roll of his eyes,  
"I know that." he shot back, flicking my nose and making me wrinkle it as he smirked, "We just have to convince mom of that." he said, crossing his arms. Groaning slightly I ran a hand through my hair, grabbing a hair tie from the desk and throwing it up into a messy bun to keep it off of my neck. My whole body felt sticky with sweat in this heat and I knew I'd have to take a shower before I left tomorrow. Sam smiled at my reaction despite still looking slightly melancholy as he hoisted a duffel bag up onto his shoulder, grabbing the other one with his free hand.  
"What are you doing?" I asked amusedly, seeing him struggle out of my bedroom door and towards his like a duck who was too fat to walk on such tiny legs.  
"I'm going to pass these out to Bee and then I'll go out and put them in Jazz while you talk to mom." he answered with a smirk. Rolling my eyes at him I nodded slightly, thanking him and taking a deep breath before heading downstairs to face my mother. Needless to say she didn't speak to anyone at dinner and my meatloaf was burnt, as was my toast the following morning. The scrambled eggs admittedly made up for it but that was only because I had cooked those myself.

As promised, Sam had put my duffel bags in Jazz's trunk yesterday so I was all packed and ready to go. My family stood in a small group at the end of the drive, watching me with keen eyes as if they expected me to turn around and declare I wasn't going all of a sudden. Sighing to myself, I stepped forward to pull Sam and Mikaela into a hug. Mikaela squeezed me briefly and wished me luck before stepping back to let me and Sam have a moment. He was squeezing the air out of me and I had to pry myself away so I could breathe, chuckling a little at his childish offended expression. Guilt began to eat at my insides,  
"I'm sorry I'm leaving again so soon." I said quietly. Sam waved it off and punched my shoulder playfully,  
"I'll video call you." he promised me with a chuckle. "Have fun out there...but be safe. You hear that Jazz? You look after her!" he wagged a finger at the autobot who flashed the brake lights at him in response. Sam gave me one last sad smile before walking off with Mikaela, letting me face my parents. Though looking disgruntled, my dad pulled me into a tight hug and mumbled a 'love you' into my hair. Rolling my eyes I patted his back, kissing his cheek and pulling back to look at my mom. She'd fastened her glare on Jazz now but her expression crumpeled when I hesitantly pulled her too me. She clung onto my shoulders with her bony fingers, sobbing and bawling into my shoulder as I grimaced and looked at dad for help. After three immensely long minutes he managed to pull her off of me and I said another heartfelt 'I love you' before climbing in Jazz and driving away, hearing my mom blubbering behind me about everything she loved leaving her. Jazz clicked on the radio and began blasting some 5 Seconds of Summer for me and a small smile twitched my lips upward as I sung along loudly, knowing Jazz wouldn't let us crash when I began playing air-guitar in the drivers seat.


	12. Chapter 12: Welcome To The Playground

The drive had been a long one out to a rural part of California past the outskirts of my hometown. It had been an abandoned field that we'd met the cargo plane in and there wasn't a familiar face insight when a stern looking soldier had directed Jazz up the ramp into the back of the plane, they'd closed it soon after and left us alone in the back. The loud sounds of the engines rattling had made it all but impossible to rest so me and Jazz had had ourselves a little party, turning his music way up and singing loudly to the words. We didn't particularly care if it annoyed the soldiers flying the plane either, they weren't bothering with us so we weren't bothering with them. The flight to Ethiopia was about 19 hours (rounded to the nearest hour) and another four and a half hours after that was what it would take to reach the top secret base. Diego Garcia was an island out in the Indian Ocean and it had taken me just over a day to get there - would anyone else liked to have been told that before hand? I'd set out at ten in the morning and the long flights (made even longer due to refuelling) had made me tired due to lack of sleep on the noisy plane, and rather hungry despite them bringing back some toasted sandwhiches from some of the airports they'd stopped to refuel at. The limited human contact wasn't an issue for me since I loved Jazz's company, but I was still dying to see the sunlight and get some fresh air.

By the time we had landed in Diego Garcia and the ramp was let down it was about midday. I stretched and groaned when my joints popped, shaking out my numb limbs and spraying some body spray about me in the hope it would mask the fact I hadn't changed my clothes for a day. I could pass it off until tomorrow because I'd have to unpack everything before I could change my clothes anyway, thank god for hand held travel bags for the essentials right? Just as promised however, Lennox was waiting to greet me. His smug grin let me know I looked a mess and I self-conciously pulled my hair out of its messy bun and pulled it into a side ponytail, hastily combing through the tangles to try and rid myself of the fresh out of the car for the first time in days look. Jazz came to a rumbling stop after reversing down the ramp and I patted his bonnet absent mindedly,  
"Hey Major." I greeted him with a tired smile and Lennox chuckled at me,  
"Rough flight huh? Sorry, I forgot to mention how long it was." he shrugged a bit as Jazz popped his truck and revealed my bags. Lennox stuck his fingers in his mouth, a sharp srhill whistle making me cringe as one of his soldiers came running over to grab the bags. My eyebrows rose a bit, as Lennox placed his hand on my shoulder; I could feel the warmth of his palm radiating through the thin material of my burgundy blouse. I'd tried to go for smart but casual considering I was starting a new job, so I'd thrown on a burgundy button up blouse (the silky material was light enough to keep me cool) and paired it with some white jeans, tucking the blouse into them and then adding a few inches to my height with some tan ankle boots.

It must have done the job perfectly because I was aware of Lennox's brown eyes on me. His hand slipped from my shoulder to my elbow before he dropped it completely, clearing his throat slightly and leading me towards one of the huge hangars. The whole base was pretty much gigantic hangars and low looking bungalows surrounding airstrips, curved supply stores lining the sides of the tarmac. It was a fairly hot place here on base and I realised that maybe my long sleeves had overdressed me for the heat, so I quickly pushed them up and let the gentle breeze caress my skin.  
"I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again." I confessed, breaking the thick silence that had fallen over us. Lennox glanced at me, his brown eyes shimmering with a hint of amusement as he hummed under his breath,  
"There's a couple more since you last saw them."he informed me, "But you'll meet them tomorrow. For today it's just the autobots you know and the rest of your team. There's going to be five technicians in total, you're the last one to arrive." Five of us? Inhaling deeply, I took comfort in the scent of salt coming in off of the ocean surrounding the island. The warm rays of the sun bathed my face as I bit my lip softly and I heard Lennox chuckle slightly, "I think this is the first time I've ever seen you nervous, and I've seen you face down decepticons." shaking his head bemusedly he paused outside the hangar, squeezing my shoulders gently and giving me a genuinely encouraging smile before pushing me inside. My stomach fluttered a bit as I drew myself up and shook off my nerves as best I could, walking beside Lennox to meet my new friends.

Jazz came roaring past me all of a sudden and transformed as he went, rolling forwards and springing to his feet as he pounced on one of the autobots with a loud clang. Snorting a laugh I watched as Ratchet tried his best to pluck Jazz off of him and hand him off to Ironhide, but Jazz had other plans and was high fiving the rest of his family now as they greeted him noisily. A small smile played on my lips as I recognised the shiny red and blue of Optimus, the gleaming black and silver of Ironhide and the virbant yellow and red of Ratchet. All of my autobot friends were bigger than Jazz but the little silver bot was ecstatic to be back with them. The hangar was much larger than I had first thought. There were metal desks to the left and right which I assumed was some sort of communications relay that went with the large metal structure of catwalks and stairs, they lead up towards the high ceiling with computers and lighting rigs and flat screens. Beyond that was the autobots hangar I assumed, there was a large empty space occasionally broken up with strange triangles protruding from the floor and I assumed that I would learn what they were for later. There was a group of four men hanging about by the steep steps on the left leading up to the U shaped catwalk, all of them staring in awe at the autobots. My lips twitched up in a smirk,  
"Have they never met the autobots before?" I asked. Lennox shook his head, brown eyes warning me to play nice but his charming grin telling me to mock them all I wanted. Lennox had a good sense of humour and already I was enjoying wokring with him. "You mentioned I was the only civillian...you didn't say I'd be the only woman." I added as an afterthought with a slight frown. Lennox gave me a look that clearly said he didn't believe it would be a problem, and I couldn't help but grin back at him to let him know I had been joking.

One man appeared to be of Chinese descent maybe with bushy black eyebrows and equally as black short windswept hair, they complimented dark eyes that were almost onyx in colour. Like every other military technician with him he was already dressed in uniform, some baggy grey cargo pants and button up shirt over the top of a beige t-shirt and black combat boots. I grimaced at the lack of colour, knowing I'd have to wear that soon too but quickly moving on from that and beginning to study the other three men before me. The oldest man must have been in his mid forties perhaps, salt and pepper hair sitting on his head in a comb over and sharp hazel eyes almost glaring out at the autobots. I wondered briefly what had happened to make him so pissed off at the world because his thin lips seemed to be in a permanent grimace. He had a rather thick layer of stubble covering his jaw too but had clearly been in the military for quite a while - that was if his broad shoulders and the glock strapped to his hip meant anything. The other two men were twins, and unfortunately for me they were identical. They both stood at about five foot eleven, both had short and touseled chocolate coloured hair, both had light brown eyes and both had chiselled jaw lines. There wasn't a single feature I could spot to tell them apart and I knew they were going to be trouble.

Lennox gained their attention as we drew closer and I felt four sets of eyes turn on me, making my nerves come back with a vengance. The twins gave me a curious look before glancing at one another and smirking, giving me a horrible feeling that perhaps I was about to become their favourite plaything. I tilted my chin up a bit to try and make myself appear more confient; if I could handle Sam I could handle them...right?  
"Alright listen up, this here is the civillian contractor we told you about. Ellie Witwicky is the last member of your team and I want you to play nice." Lennox ordered, his tone firm and leaving no room for argument. My eyebrow arched slightly, heat creeping up onto my cheeks. Did he basically just order them to be nice to me? I couldn't quite tell if I was grateful or flattered or annoyed that he hadn't given me a chance to show I was made of stronger stuff. "Ellie, this is Corporal Li, Private Owens...er, both of them-" he frowned a bit when introducing the twins and I couldn't help but laugh when they both chuckled at him and shook their heads, "-and Sergeant 're all going to be working with you." Lennox concluded, eyes watching me like a hawk to study my reaction. I supressed a shiver at the intensity of his gaze and instead stepped forward to shake some hands.

They were all friendly enough, and I quickly realised that Sergeant Anderson's permanent scowl wasn't an indicator of his mood at all.  
"Civillian huh?" one of the Owens boys said, but they both cocked their head at the same time and jerked a thumb at the the other, "I'm Kane and that's Kyle." they said in unison, a wicked grin spreading across their lips at my confused expression. I swore they had practiced that all of their lives for the sole purpose of being confusing. They sounded a lot like the Weasley twins from Harry Potter and were apparently just as playful. Corporal Li had a smooth American accent, suprising me furthur since I had genuinely thought he was Chinese before he divulged that he was born in San Francisco. Lennox glanced back at the autobots (who were speaking in rumbling bass tones that echoed through the hangar) before turning his attention to us again,  
"For the next few weeks Ratchet over there is going to be teaching you how to fix those guys up, some of the more fiddly things like their optics and stuff I think he said. You're the best and the brightest so we're expecting you to pick this up are more autobots for you to meet tomorrow but these are the ring leaders so to speak." Lennox addressed the group but his eyes lingered on me the longest, making a small smile twitch at my lips. Yep, it was definitely nice to be appreciated. He was looking as good as ever in his uniform, gun bouncing off of his thigh and sleeves rolled up to his elbows and I averted my gaze quickly to try and avoid any distractions.

One of the twins (was it Kane or Kyle? I'd be damned if I knew) glanced at the autobots and frowned slightly,  
"Can we fit anymore of them in here?" he wondered. Lennox's eyebrow rose a bit as we looked over at the towering forms of the robots. They did seem to take up a lot of room.  
"They sleep in here so they're mostly in their alt modes when in this hangar." Lennox replied by way of explanation. The twins glanced at each other confusedly and mouthed 'alt modes' like a question,  
"Alt modes, you know when they go back to being cars?" I explained with a shrug. Anderson's eyebrow rose,  
"Just how much do you know about these aliens Miss Witwicky?" he asked curiously. A small smile tugged at my lips,  
"Jazz is my guardian...pretty much everything I know comes from him." I confessed. Lennox chuckled a little as Jazz bellowed my name,  
"I can hear you talking about me sugar!" he called back.  
"Still flirting?" Lennox guessed. Rolling my eyes I nodded, stuffing my hands in my back pockets as I started strolling towards him, "Wait, you're not flirting back are you?" Lennox asked jokingly. Glancing over my shoulder I couldn't help but notice the slightly disgruntled expression in his eyes and threw him a wink,  
"I'm not that desperate just yet." I answered.

I was received warmly by the autobots, Ironhide flipping his canons at me in his signature hello as Optimus pulled me up into his hand. From where I sat in his hands, legs swinging back and forth merrily, the people below me looked like dwarfs. The other technicians were staring up at me and I could have sworn their jaws had dropped.  
"Ellie. It is good to see you again." Optimus's greeted me in his deep voice and I grinned back at him, feeling a swell of affection for the autobot leader.  
"Hello Optimus, it's good to see all of you too." I said with a laugh, "Bee sends a hello." I added. Ratchet and Ironhide gave me similar greetings as Optimus let me settle on jazz's shoulder. I held onto the metal plate loosely, knowing Jazz wouldn't let me fall.  
"You have taken good care of Jazz." Ratchet complimented, "I trust Bumblbee has been well looked after too?" Optimus blinked at me, silently seconding Ratchets question as I nodded my head, ponytail bobbing behind me as I hummed in confirmation,  
"Bee's doing well." I promised, looking down at the technicians who were still flabbergasted. Lennox stood with his arms crossed, smiling up at me and shaking his head slightly, most likely under the impression I was showing off. To be perfectly candid I was a little bit. "Hey Jazz? Set me back on my feet please?" I requested, taking the hint from Lennox who was trying to smother his smile with his hand. Jazz held out his hand for me and I slid down onto it, holding his thumb as he lowered me down and dropped me on my feet. I patted his thumb in thanks and raised an eyebrow slightly at Corporal Li, who was staring at me in wonder,  
"How long did it take you to become such good friends?" he wondered, the awe in his voice making me blush slightly.

Shrugging nochalantly I stepped back beside Lennox and smiled up at Jazz, who winked down at me and held up a shiny thumb,  
"We've known each other for about three months...I don't really know how it happened but it did." I laughed, "He's a goofball though."  
"You love me sugar." Jazz shot back, crossing his lage arms over his chest, the metal glinting in the light. Snickering I held my hands up in surrender,  
"Of course I do Jazz." I agreed, "How would I live without you!"  
"Major, these are the men joining Ellie, making up your team of engineers?" Optimus asked. The room fell silent as he spoke, his commanding presence turning all eyes towards him. The only sounds to be heard were the grating noises of the autobots shifting their positions. Lennox nodded his head, looking up at Optimus with the respect shining in his eyes,  
"Yes they are." he confirmed, "These are the smartest guys we could think to trust with the secrets your willing to share." Optimus placed his hands on his hips and nodded once,  
"Your judgement has been trustworthy in the time we have known you...we trust you again now." his words were simple and plain but were so effective. Lennox had straightened slightly, a gleam of pride in his eyes as he nodded gratefully. "We look forward to working with you." Optimus said finally. Lennox turned to us and I knew the meeting was over before he said it.

The others were already moving out of the hangar, whispering excitedly about getting their hands on their mechanics while I turned to say goodbye to Jazz. He'd knelt infront of me and extended a large finger my way, placing it lightly on my cheek. I shivered slightly when the cold metal bit into my flesh but curled an arm around his finger anyway to hug him. We'd been together everday for the last three months and being seperated like this was going to be foreign to us,  
"I'll drop in on you every now and then." I promised. Jazz chuckled deeply,  
"You best sugar. I'll be seeing you around." he assured me, pulling back and turning to Ironhide to ask about the action he'd missed. Turning on my heel I walked out under the catwalk structure, smiling slightly when I saw Lennox waiting for me at the entrance to the hangar.  
"Why do you look like you've just dropped your kid off at school for the first time?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly in concern. Laughing a bit I swatted his arm,  
"I'm not that old, jerk." I said, feigning offence. Shaking my head slightly I fell into step beside him, taking note of the route towards my quarters so I wouldn't get lost in the future. Finally I sighed, "Okay maybe it does feel like I just did that." I agreed, "But it's not like I'm never going to see him again." Lennox shook his head,  
"God no, of course you will." he agreed instantly, "You just might not see him everyday."

He lead me towards a large concrete bungalow, pushing open a white metal door and revealing a long grey corridor with black doors set into the walls,  
"Is anybody else getting a descent into hell kind of feeling?" I quipped. Lennox snorted a bit,  
"Don't tell me you don't like your accomodation?" he smirked a bit, "This is pretty much a team only space for you guys, you have your own rooms obviously but you've been given all this space as yours." he informed me. We spent a few minutes just walking along the corridor, Lennox motioning to each of the doors as he passed. One lead up to a rec room where I could already hear pool balls clattering together as the guys chattered and laughed, and another was a shower room. Though the cubicles were seperated by walls and an opaque curtain it was still pretty communal, however a special dividing wall had been put in for me so I would be well hidden behind a corner while I was in the bathroom. Of course, there were four bedrooms (since the Owens twins had said they had no problem sharing one) and I was placed in the room next door to the showers so I wouldn't have to travel far and risk exposure if I forgot to grab something. Opening up the door, Lennox showed me where I would be living for the forseeable future. I was plesantly suprised by what I found if I was honest since I had expected a little cubby hole of a room.

It was a fairly decent size with a sort of biscuit coloured carpet and and a very homely design. The furniture was all wooden: the frame for the single bed, the bedside locker, the desk pressed against the wall and the wardobe too. There was a bookshelf crammed into the corner on the left when you walked in and the walls were painted a light yellow, giving the room a sort of innocent childlike look. My duffel bags already sat on the unmade bed and I felt a smile twitch at my lips,  
"This is perfect." I said, looking at Lennox who appeared to be suprised,  
"Most people complain about the size and lack of colour." he admitted. His eyes were searching my face, I didn't know what for but he must have been satisifed with whatever he found there because he smiled slightly, leaning back against the doorframe as I walked in and picked up the paper on the desk. The schedule before me was just as full on as Lennox had promised it would be and I pointedly kept my face a mask of calm, feeling his eyes on me and not wanting to show him any sign of reluctance or weakness. Still, I couldn't stop myself from arching an eyebrow. My week was a whole jam packed sandwhich of fitness, hand to hand combat training, language lessons and engineering practice - I was going to be so tired at the end of this week. Lennox chuckled a bit, "It's okay to look horrified." he promised. How did he always seem to know what was on my mind?

Turning to face him I gasped dramatically, leaning against the desk and throwing a hand to my forehead,  
"Oh how will I survive!" I cried mockingly, shooting him a wink. Lennox smirked, that twitch of his lips that made my knees weak and my stomach flutter. Damn why did he have to be so hot!  
"You'll find a way." he chuckled, although there was genuine confidence in his eyes that made my chest swell with pride. "Although, I have to ask...what does an engineer pack in a duffel bag that size?" he wondered, arms crossed and a playful glint in his eyes. Crossing over to my bag I unzipped it and tossed him one of my manuals, seeing him eye the cover with a small grimace,  
"Aeronautical engineering maintenance management manual?" he questioned, "Geez can't you be normal and read Twilight?" he tossed it me back and I threw it ontop of the other manuals with a laugh,  
"It was on the required reading list at school." I said by way of explanation. "Though I did pack the Lord of the Rings triology." I confessed. Lennox groaned slightly and shook his head,  
"I need to teach you something about proper literature." he decided, pushing off of the doorframe and standing in the doorway, his broad shoulders and biceps filling most of the small space. "Unpack, get yourself settled and I'll see you at somepoint tomorrow...I like your shirt, by the way." he smiled a bit as my cheeks flushed, the unexpected compliment making me blush like a schoolgirl as he walked out and left me alone, but oddly enough I had never felt less alone in my entire life.


	13. Chapter 13: First Steps

"No no no that was so Jason Todd!" Kyle (or was it Kane?) exclaimed. My eyes rolled and I finished the braid in my hair, pulling it back down the right side of my head to incoporate it into the ponytail - my hair die was unfortunately wearing out now so the ombre dip dye was slowly fading away.  
"It was not! The Red Hood was someone entirely different!"his twin argued. Jimmy Anderson and Ray Li had fallen into step beside me, desperately trying to ignore the two nineteen year olds. They'd only enlisted last year but they were whiz kids and had almost immediately been transferred to Diego Garcia...I was starting to think that maybe their former CO had just grown bored of them. We'd had dinner together and got to know each other a little better last night and I now understood why Jimmy's face was in a permanent scowl - his ex-wife really had done a number on him when she left . The twins were still arguing behind us when we walked into the autobots hangar to meet the others that had come down since Mission City. Jazz was playfully brawling with another silver autobot I didn't recognise, and aswell as the usual swell of affection for my autobot friend I felt a small knot of worry that maybe he'd get hurt; dammit I was turning into a mother hen! Lennox and Epps were laughing about something or other, watching the autobot fight with amused expressions as we walked up.

I'd put my uniform on for the first time this morning, and boy did it feel stiff. It would definitely need some wearing in but I could get used to it. I had the same baggy grey, camoflauge cargo pants and combat boots as the soldiers did, the same beige coloured t-shirt underneath the grey camoflague shirt too but I didn't have the rank isignias stitched into the material, I didn't need those. It'd been quite warm when I stepped out of our block and so I'd tied the extra shirt around my waist, but it was a lot cooler in this hangar and I could feel the goosebumps breaking out on my arms. The smell of polish and grease hung in the air and I guessed one of the autobots had had a bit of a pampering session this morning. It was pretty early, about nine in the morning and though I was awake I wasn't quite as alert as usual, hence why I jumped so badly when Jimmy suddenly began yelling at the twins that Jason Todd actually was the Red Hood and the character that Kane (or was it Kyle?) was thinking of was Scarlet. My jaw dropped a little as Ray sighed,  
"You're all such geeks."  
"The chicks dig it." the twins chorused as Jimmy huffed at them,  
"You don't want to be involved with any woman kids, it's not worth it." he grumbled. The twins just cackled and slapped a high five, they'd been betting all morning to see how long it would take to make Jimmy lose his cool.

Inhaling deeply I counted to ten, letting the fresh air clear my head as the loud clang of metal on metal drew my attention. Jazz had just got himself a nice right hook to the face and I grimaced a bit when sparks flew, his hand coming up to work out the kinks in his jaw. I chose to ignore it and not go storming over there like a deranged mama bear, chosing to finally say hi to Epps again,  
"Epps!" I greeted him enthusiastically when he and Lennox turned our way. Epps grinned at me, burly arms pulling me to him in a crushing hug that I gladly retured. It had been far too long since I'd seen him but he was till the same as ever, smelling of sweat and engine oil. His sunglasses were hanging from his shirt, his side arm strapped to his thigh and the bottom half of his tattoo poking out from under the sleeves of his uniform shirt. Sparkling brown eyes raked me up and down,  
"Look at you in military get up, looking good girl!" he chuckled, "How's that brother of yours?" Nodding my head I couldn't help but grin back, Epps was a damn good soldier but he was also quite playful when nothing serious was going down and his good mood was infectious.  
"Sam's doing okay thanks, a bit pissed that he's saved the word and still has to go back to school but otherwise fine." I laughed. Epps clapped my shoulder and I almost stumbled a little under the force of the blow, just about staying on my feet and rolling my shoulder with a grimace.

Jimmy stared at me incredulously, his hazel eyes locking onto mine and refusing to let go,  
"Just how many people here do you know?" he asked, sounding disgruntled that I had a bit of a jump on the rest of them. Grinning sheepishly I rubbed the back of my neck,  
"Just these two, I swear." I promised. Jimmy rolled his eyes and focused instead on the autobots. Jazz had come strolling over and sat himself back on the hangar floor, watching lazily with a half amused expression twisted in his features. Optimus stood above us, hands on his hips and blue eyes blinking calmly at our group as the new autobots came to a halt infront of us. One of the new autobots was an ice cream truck, rusted and faded it looked like it had seen better days and I wondered briefly if we could get this autobot a new alt mode. The other autobots at least were better looking. One was a bright sapphire blue, tyres for knees and stading just a little bit taller than Jazz with hands that looked like grabbers you'd find in a junkyard. The other silver autobot that had been battling Jazz earlier was using tyres on his feet like rollerskates, two large blades going past his hands and stopping inches from the floor. The last of them was decidedly more feminine than the others. She was smaller (even smaller than Jazz) and had more elegant curves instead of broad chest and shoulder plates, suggesting maybe she was built more for speed than brute force...though I was more than sure she could fight, why else would she be here if she couldn't?

The others were oggling her slightly and I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and trying to fight the urge to slap them all,  
"Seriously? You get one feminine looking robot and they all start drooling." I grumbled. Optimus had clearly heard me and tilted his head slightly, eyebrows lifting in an amused manner as the rest of my team continued to stare. They were evaltuating all the new autobots (even the ones they'd met yesterday) but their eyes were still lingering on the feminine looking bot. Reaching over I punched Ray on the arm, jolting him out of his trance with a roll of my eyes. Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot impatiently, "Do men go for anything with curves?" I asked, voice raising to bring their attention to me. Lennox was sniggering beside me as my team jumped and blinked at me in suprise.  
"Welcome back."Optimus greeted us, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen among my embarrassed colleagues, "Major Lennox made you aware that there were more of us to meet." he continued, his blue eyes landing on me, "These autobots did not fight Megatron with us, they came after the battle was won." he seemed to have added it for my benefit so I nodded in acknowledgement. Optimus fell silent, the faint echo's of his voice leaving the hangar as the new autobots began to lift hands and such as he introduced them, "This is Sideswipe, Arcee, and the twins Skids and Mudflap."  
"Twins?" The Owens twins both perked up at that and I groaned,  
"No, no do not get any ides!" I warned them, glaring hard at the human twins who were trying and failing to look innocent. I could almost taste the excitement radiating from the pair, guessing that they would team up to pull some horrendous pranks if we let them.  
"Yes mother." they said in unison, grinning from ear to ear.

The second silver autobot was Sideswipe, the feminine looking pink autobot was Arcee and the ice cream truck must have been the twins.  
"Do you have different genders?" Ray asked timidly, his curiosity getting the better of him as he risked a glance at Arcee. The autobot crossed her arms over her chest, hip cocking out to the side. I realised that she had mimicked my stance.  
"Yes. I'm a female, more commonly known as a femme." she spoke calmly yet there was a fierce fire burning behind those glowing blue orbs that even her smooth voice couldn't cover up. Ray shrank back slightly and I couldn't help but smirk a bit - I had a feeling that me and this Arcee girl could be good friends. "My sisters will be joining us in a few weeks, they sent a transmission just last night." she added. There were more like her? Oh that's cool.  
"We have our team sourcing some good alt modes for them." Lennox piped up, giving her a small nod, "And for you too, when you learn to get along." he added with a sideways glance at the ice cream truck twins.  
"Oh man what!"  
"Come on I don't want to be stuck with this jackass!" two voices were mingling together and I was suprised to find that instead of the usual bass tones I was used to hearing, their voices were relatively high pitched and almost childlike in the way they whined at each other.

The autobot twins had begun to bicker amongst themselves about just who was the jackass between them, but Optimus silenced them with a sharp bang on the roof of their truck, the deep thud echoing and vibrating through my bones.  
"Well that's the autobots." Epps chuckled. Lennox shot his friend a pointed look before looking back at us,  
"I believe you're with Ratchet for the rest of the morning now, right?" he asked, glancing up at the autobot who simply crossed his arms and nodded in confirmation. "Well, have fun then." Lennox gave us a lopsided smirk that set my stomach a flutter before sauntering out with Epps at his side. Pushing away the urge to watch him walk out I gave Ratchet my undivided attention, feeling a familiar rush of excitement that I remembered from my first lecture at MIT. This was my passion, this was what I loved and lived for and I was unable to stop myself from smiling when Jimmy asked what we would be learning about today. Ratchet's reply was even better,  
"After studying some of your medical and engineering tools, I believe it would be fair to say this lesson is about how a laser cutter is essentially what you would call...a scalpel." The Owens twins gave each other a fist bump as Ray paled slightly. Laughing, I grinned up at my autobot friends,  
"Let's do this, Ratchet."

* * *

"Nice place for a lesson Optimus." I greeted him with smile and he returned my cheerful hello with a nod and a soft rumble of my name. "I have to admit though the fresh air is good." I confessed, stretching my back out and hearing a satisfying pop. Optimus was stood before the hangar, his large form towering over me and casting a huge shadow in the bright sun. I had to squint up at him to see properly. The breeze was warm and gentle, carrying the scent of salty ocean and oil and grease from infantry that they had to keep in mint condition. It was a smell I was already getting used to but it hadn't bothered me anyway, I had spent a summer on a work experience placement at the local garage once - my favourite joke when I had returned to school for my remaining year at high school was that I'd spent all summer on my back. My mother hadn't found that one particularly funny though. Ratchet had spent the better part of three and a half hours with us, familiarising us with the equipment available for us to use and the different settings. It turns out a handheld laser cutter could be used to not only cut through their metal plates but weld them together too, you had to be very careful what intensity you used though because as the Owens twins so beautifully illustrated, go in too strong and the metal melts away into nothing more than a puddle. It was also a handy little tool to strip wires should the need arise. Either way, he'd finally let us go for lunch and thankfully we'd been allowed an hours break. Whilst the boys were out working on the planes and weapons that were available 24/7 for use, I was taking my language lessons from Optimus; something I much rather preferred if I was honest since Jimmy had been grumpy all morning after Ray had accidentally singed his pants.

Optimus knelt down before me, the grating and clicking of his metal gears filling the air as he moved. I trustingly stepped into his hand, letting him lift me up and situate me on his shoulder, holding tightly to the metal after remembering I had slipped the last time,  
"Hold tightly." Optimus warned me needlessly but I still hummed in agreement, bracing my feet against one of the windows that acted as his chest plate. He stood back up and walked inside, his thudding footsteps jostling me slightly but I knew better than to loosen my grip this time. He walked to the back of the hangar where only Sideswipe appeared to be resting in his alt mode (a beautiful looking corvette stingray), the others were most likely out training with the soldiers. "Jazz informs me that he has been teaching you some basic Cybertronian to help you with your lessons." Optimus said, lowering his huge form to sit down, his arms resting on his knees as he spoke to me. Nodding my head I informed him of everything Jazz had taught me in the last three months,  
"I can recognise letters and some of the easier symbols, but I can't string a sentence together." I revealed. Optimus bowed his head before looking at the wall opposite us and touching his helmet, projecting an image of a Cybertronian symbol before us and calmly asking me to translate it. He had started off with all the ones Jazz had so far taught me and I was grateful that he was going easy on me today...I had fitness with Epps later that I didn't want to think about. "That stands for spark." I said, recognising the symbol. It was a crescent moon of sorts with a cross made from a sideways walking stick and an upright litter picker...that's what I had associated it with anyway in my efforts to remember it. Optimus gave a grunt of approval and the glowing blue projection changed as I settled myself against his head, leaning on him to get comfy for the lesson.

This symbol was a sideways 'J' with two vertical lines going through it. I recognised it as another one of Jazz's symbols,  
"And this one?" Optimus asked.  
"Development." I answered, drawing my left leg up to my chest and hugging it while the other one dangled off of his shoulder. Optimus blinked and the projection changed once more. This time, I was looking at a backwards 'J' with a curved vertical line running through it, the bottom protruding way past the bottom of the 'J' with two dashes coming off of it diagonally on the left. Tilting my head slightly I wracked through my brains to try and remember this one. Jazz had taught me all of their names and some of the decepticons names but they were bigger symbols that tended to get mixed up in my head sometimes. Optimus waited patiently as I thought it through, playing the symbol over and over in my head before I managed to connect a word to it, "Energy?" I guessed.  
"Correct." Optimus said, blinking and changing the projection again to a letter of the alphabet. "Jazz informs me you are good with letters." Optimus rumbled.  
"I'm not all that bad." I agreed modestly, "That's a B." For the next two hours that was how we stayed, sitting together and staring at projections on the wall opposite us until I had to leave to meet Epps. Optimus set me on my feet and I sighed, "Thanks Optimus, you're a pretty good teacher." smiling up at him I patted his hand affectionately before I climbed out of his palm.  
"You are most welcome, thank you for agreeing to be my student...there is nobody else I would rather entrust this information to." Optimus's blue eyes glowed with sincerity and I felt a certain amount of pride knowing that I had earnt his respect and his trust, just as he had earnt mine.

* * *

Epps had been running me ragged, and I hated him so much right now it was unbelievable. I couldn't believe I had actually been excited enough to buy proper workout clothes for this...this shit! Epps chuckled a bit,  
"Okay that's enough, get some water." he instructed, tossing me my waterbottle as he did so. Gasping for air I slowed to a halt, taking a long drag on my cool water in an effort to refresh myself. I was already sweating like a pig, badly enough that I had left sweatpatches on clothes that had promised were impossible to sweat through. The black yoga pants and the coral pink tanktop were sticking to me like a second skin and the warm breeze wasn't doing much to help me cool down. Stray strands of hair were plastered to my temples as beads of sweat rolled down my face. Epps had been making me do shuttleruns now for just short of fifteen minutes, and before them we had been doing circuit training that included weight lifting, star jumps, tuck jumps and more. Already I was exhausted. "Man what did you even do for fitness?" Epps asked with a laugh, "Did you jog? Because I'm telling you jogging ain't good for keeping up with us."  
"Once a month." I gasped, doubeled over for air as I took another long drag on my water, the cool and refreshing taste giving my tired limbs some energy.

Despite the fact my nikes were proper running shoes I could already feel my feet aching and the blisters beginning to form on my ankles. I had never done so much excercise with my life. "This...this fills the-the quota for the year...right?" I panted, a ghost of a smile touching my lips to let Epps know I was joking. He clapped my shoulder, almost sending my exhausted body to the floor and barked a laugh,  
"You wish sunshine, now drop and give me ten." he ordered, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking at me. Groaning, I lowered myself down and shakily managed to deliver five press ups for him before I had to pause and shake my arms out, glaring up at Epps as I went back down to give him the other five. "Up up up!" Epps yelled, clearly enjoying every second of my torture.  
"I hate you!" I yelled breathlessly, as he pointed to the circuit once more. I had just done my tenth tuck jump and was jogging towards the shuttle runs when Lennox strolled over. He appeared to be just as amused as Epps discussed my fitness with him and I scowled heartily when I heard him laughing. Surely we had to be done by now? They'd come to stand beside me now as I continued to do my runs, touching my fingertips to the floor before jogging back the forty meters to the other cone he'd set up and touching that one too.  
"Here's the best thing, she jogs once a month." Epps informed him with a shit eating grin.

Lennox's eyebrows rose, trying to escape into his hairline as he feigned an impressed attitude,  
"Well doesn't she make us look bad." he quipped, the pair of them laughing at my misery as I finished the last of my thirty shuttle runs and glared heartily at them, hands on my knees as I panted for air,  
"Fuck, you."  
"Whoa there I'm going to have to ask you to go again for that." Epps laughed. Lennox snorted and clapped his shoulder,  
"I think she's had enough man, she looks ready to drop." though his tone was playful it was still clearly an order and I for one was grateful Lennox liked me enough to make it so. Epps nodded in agreement,  
"I was kidding." he promised, seeing the filthy look I was giving him. "Come on, cool down routine to try and make you feel less like shit tomorrow." Lennox snickered a bit,  
"I think you'll have to do a lot more of this to get your fitness up." he mused.  
"And I repeat...fuck, you." I growled, still despreately dragging in lungfuls of air while the boys laughed at me. This was unfortunately how many other sessions with Epps would go until I got a bit fitter in the weeks to come. I was so stiff the next morning I could barely get out of bed and quickly decided to take up yoga in an effort to try and make myself a little more supple, e-mailing Sam and asking him to have mom send over her old DVD's and matt.

* * *

Dammit this wasn't good, this so wasn't good! He was far too distracting for this! I was back in workout clothes, a new combination of light blue tanktop and grey yoga pants as I made my way over to the mats in the corner of the gym. They had built a whole hangar dedicated to weights, excercise bikes, treadmills and various other bits of gym equipment for the NEST soldiers to use. Jimmy was running on one in the corner, earphones drowning out the rest of the world and I imagined he imagined he was running away from his ex-wife, god what a bitch she had been. Lennox had been stood waiting for me, arms crossed over his chest and foot tapping impatiently. Dumping my waterbottle down at the side of the mats I sighed apologetically,  
"Sorry I'm late, Optimus and I had a go at writing the alphabet and I had to pack up the stuff." I shrugged nochalantly but saw the curiosity light up those brown eyes...not that I was looking at his eyes at that moment.  
"It's only your first week and you're already writing it? I'm still struggling to tell A from B." he both looked and sounded very impressed and I felt myself stand a little taller with pride.  
"Jazz gave me a bit of a headstart." I confessed. Lennox hummed a bit in understanding before looking me over, the appreciation in his eyes making me swallow a smile. He wasn't looking all to bad either if I was honest...hell who was I kidding he looked so damn hot the temperature in the gym had sky rocketed. He had on the same shirt as his soldier buddies (the grey one with USAF emblazened in black across the front) yet somehow it seemed to suit him better, clinging to his muscular arms and slightly baggier around his torso. He wore baggy basketball shorts in a rather bright yellow and blue colour with warrios written on the left leg and Santa Cruz written on the right. My eyebrows rose a little, "You like basketball?" I asked, slightly suprised.

Maybe it was stereotypical of me but I thought he would have liked football or baseball, I didn't see him as a basketball kind of guy. Lennox shrugged a bit,  
"Yeah, me and my dad used to watch every game together. You got a problem with basketball?" he asked teasingly, pulling his fists up in a playful manner. Snorting I fist bumped his hand,  
"I don't really do sport." I answered. Lennox smirked,  
"Didn't think so, not after seeing your performance with Epps." he chuckled, "Although, I got a bit of a baseball vibe from you."  
"Softball." I amended, placing my hands on my hips, "I was on the softball team in high school and at MIT." Lennox seemed stunned and I frowned a bit, feeling slightly offended.  
"You were on the softball team?" he questioned, "What position did you play?"  
"I was a hitter." I said defensively, "And I did get a home run once, they're hard to get though so it was only the one time...and it was in a practice session." Lennox grinned a bit,  
"I believe you." he said finally, "But you can't always batter someone with a bat. Do you know anything about hand to hand combat?" Ah, finally, the reason I was here. Shaking my head I gave him my undivided attention (which wasn't all that hard since I couldn't take my eyes off of him anyway) and copied the stance he showed me, letting him adjust my arms without complaint and forcing down the heat threatening to creep up onto my cheeks.

He moved with such power when he threw his punches yet he was almost grateful with it, like a lion. His biceps rippled as he lashed out at the air and I mentally groaned, why did he have to be so damn distracting! Blinking, I forced my eyes to move from his arms and focus on what he was saying, mimicking the movements and pummeling the air with such intense concentration my brain was beginning to hurt. We must have done the same two punches for a good ten minutes, Lennox continually adjusting my elbows and arms so I was more accurately hitting this invisible target he had seemed to imagine himself. As frustrating as it was, I trusted him to teach me properly and so I put up with it. Lennox nodded in approval as I threw another right hook, stepping infront of me and grabbing my hands to prevent me from hitting anything else. Thanks to Epps and his fitness training I hadn't begun to sweat yet, though I could feel my cheeks had flushed a bit from the continuous exertion.  
"You're nicer than Epps." I decided, making him smirk a bit.  
"Don't let Epps hear you say that." he retorted playfully, "Now I want you to try and elbow strike." he proceeded to show me the movement, his body twisting and bent arm whipping out all in one strong, fluid movement. Nodding slightly, I began to copy the movement, aware of my eyes ocassionally slipping up to watch him instead of what I was doing.

 _ **A/N: Hey everybody, just wanted to explain that these next few chapters are just how Ellie is settling into NEST an how the relationship between her and her team and (of course) her and Will grows. Thank you to Hestia28 for your review, I'm glad you like the story so much and I'm sorry that I messed up your beauty sleep, haha ;D! Thanks for reading guys!  
From,  
Jess :D **_


	14. Chapter 14: One Year On

It was one of those rare days off where we just had nothing to do. There were no missions going on so no check ups to set up, no lessons from Optimus or Lennox, no more fitness with Epps thank god though I did sometimes join him for a gym session when I was really determined to have a good workout...if I was honest I just ran on the treadmill and did a light circuit with Jimmy most of the time in an effort to save myself days of aches and pains. Just as Arcee had promised, her sisters had shown up a few weeks after we'd met her - Chromia and Flare Up were just as hardcore as she was, built for speed and yet completely brutal due to training with Ironhide. However, as the only girls on base (even if three of them were robots) we got along pretty well, something which didn't fail to amuse Jazz. Speaking of, my favourite autobot was currently letting me shred his tyres on the airstrip. I was doing donuts and fishtailing just to see if I could regain control afterwards, turning 180 at the end of the runway and flying back towards the hangar with the windows down and the air blowing through viciously just for an adrenaline rush. Whooping with joy I pulled to a halt, sitting back in the seat and closing my eyes as Jazz revved the engine. He'd enjoyed it just as much as me apparently. I didn't get as much free time to spend with him as I'd like but after six months we'd adapted to it pretty well, just spending time together when we could and setting aside days off (like today) for us to spend together.  
"I'm getting out and going up okay pal?" I asked, running my hand over the dashboard.

Jazz opened the drivers side door, letting me out so I could hop up on his hood and lay back, head resting on the windshield as we just relaxed, letting the sun seep into our skin; well, into my skin and into Jazz's paintwork. It was so warm here and I was glad to finally get a chance to wear my shorts again, top up my tan a bit. My body was splayed on the hood and I probably looked like he'd ran me over but nobody would comment, they knew us too well by now. Bending one knee I threw my arm over my eyes, shielding them from the sunlight and smiling up at the sky as Jazz began playing the radio softly in the background. We were near one of the supply hangars, far on the left of the base but able to get back within a moments notice if my radio went off. We sat in companiable silence, the radio playing between us as we soaked up the sun together. My mind was reminiscing over the past six months. It'd been a whirl wind of missions, training and four phone calls home to a still upset mother and an excited Sam who wanted to see if I had a gun. Lennox had promised me that we could actually do some firearms training next month since the hand to hand combat had been going great; I may not have been Jackie Chan standard but I could certainly kick ass, and after some intensive training sessions me and Lennox were now sparring partners more often than not...after I'd gotten over my little staring problem that was. A sigh escaped my lips before I could think to swallow it and I grimaced, knowing Jazz would hear. Just as I suspected, the radio clicked as it changed channel,  
 _"I want to change the world, walk again."_ it sang. Trying not to groan, I reluctantly sat up and slid off of the hood, letting him transform from his alt mode.

The grating and clicking of sliding metal I had become so familiar with filled my ears and before I knew it I was sitting in his hands, leaning against one of his large fingers and swinging my leg back and forth as he leaned back against the hangar wall,  
"Better now you're stretching your legs?" I asked teasingly. Jazz's deep chuckle made me smile as I closed my eyes and turned my face to the sun, determined to catch as many rays as I could before I had to put that uniform back on again tomorrow.  
"Cute. Now why the sigh sugar?" Jazz asked, rumbling voice soothing my nerves. I had been stupid to think that he wouldn't notice but now all of the troubling thoughts I had tried to avoid came rushing back. Inhaling deeply, I let the salty ocean breeze roll over me and organised my thoughts. They were all about Lennox and Jazz guessed it, because the next words out of his mouth were, "This about a certain major?" Chuckling mirthlessly I nodded once,  
"Good guess." I sighed. It was all about Major William Lennox, him and his killer good looks and stupid brown eyes and stomach fluttering smirk and impish grin and ridiculously infectious playful manner and-  
"Are you gonna talk about it or are you just gonna sit and sulk?" Jazz queried, nudging me with his thumb. Grabbing onto his finger I squealed like a little girl when I fell to the side. Jazz chuckled slightly and I noticed his other hand had come up to box me in, there was no way he would let me fall. Jazz might not be the best person to talk about boy issues with though...maybe Flare Up or one of the girls...but I didn't trust them half as much as I trusted Jazz and even if he just grunted and told me to get over myself I'd still have gotten it off my chest.

Sitting up I swung my legs back up into his palm, stretching them out infront of me as I leaned back against his index finger - it was like an extremely hard reclining chair but I was so used to it now it didn't bother me. Jazz mimicked my position, sitting on the floor and resting his hand on his knee so he didn't have to hold up his hand anymore.  
"He's gotten under my skin Jazz, he's always in the back of my mind and it's...it's infuriating." I groaned, running my hand through my hair as I pulled it out of it's messy bun to braid it.  
"He irritates you? I thought you liked him?" Jazz sounded confused and blinked at me in such an innocent way that I had to smile. Shaking my head I twsited my hair therapeutically in my hands,  
"No no no, well, yes, maybe...I don't know. That's kind of the point!" I huffed frustratedly and snapped my hair tie into place, my hands drumming out a pattern on my thighs to keep busy. "He's good looking, I'm not going to deny that anymore alright? He's very easy on the eyes and sometimes it's distracting but he's more than just looks, you know? He's got this whole other personality. If he's not throwing around orders and being all commanding then he's this laid back funny guy and...I know that I want to get to know that given half the chance but he's my boss, you know? It's like Arcee hooking up with Optimus or something." I grumbled, hugging my knees to my chest and waiting to see how Jazz would reply.

His head tilted slightly, blue eyes blinking slowly at me as he nudged my legs gently with a thumb,  
"You know Arcee gets around too much for Optimus right?" he asked in that unique way of his. Bursting into a fit of giggles I shook my head fondly, resting my head against the metal behind me; I hadn't expected Doctor Phil standard replies so I took what he offered without complaint. Lennox was a problem I encountered everytime I had a spare moment to think. The thing was I sensed it wasn't one sided, because some of the things that he said to me were definitely classed as flirtatious, some of the looks I caught him sending me were clearly very appreciative of what he saw (and I was an adult woman who could admit she was both flattered and confused in what he was seeing that I wasn't) and the few times he'd caught my stealthy glances he hadn't seemed offended - actually Lennox had seemed to be just as smug as I felt when the situation was reversed. "When have you ever cared what anyone else thinks anyway?" Jazz asked suddenly, "If you like him why does it matter what anyone thinks about you liking him?" Humming under my breath I turned to look out over the base, seeing the scurrying dots of soldiers playing a game of basketball near the autobots hangar.

It was quite peaceful so far away from everyone else with nothing but the warm breeze caressing my cheeks and the occasional lick of metal as Jazz shifted.  
"Jazz I'm the only woman here, human woman I mean-" I tried to explain with a shake of my head, "-and if I did end up getting anything serious with him, which I'm not even sure would happen or that I want it to, the last thing I need is people thinking I got the job because I slept with the boss." Jazz chuckled, his rumbling voice vibrating through my bones in a comfortingly familiar way,  
"You proved yourself more than enough the past six months sugar, they know you're not like that. Besides, there's gonna be a beat down on any punk bad mouthing you." Jazz reminded me. Smiling, I patted his hand affectionately,  
"Thanks Jazz." I chuckled. Though it didn't help me in the slightest I did feel better for getting it off of my chest. I was about to say something else when my radio went off, one of the twins calling me by the nickname that had caught on like wildfire among my team when (unfortunately) they'd found out my full name,  
"EJ come in." Kyle (or was it Kane?) spoke, sounding excited. My eyes rolled a bit as I picked the radio out of my pocket and responded with a slightly grumpy 'what' - how we'd gone six months with this troublesome pair without being able to tell them apart I didn't know.

Jazz got to his feet, setting me on mine first before he transformed back into his alt mode. My little Pontiac Solstice was already opening it's doors for me and I ran my hand over the hood of the car fondly,  
"You better not be giving me any of your paperwork, I've only just finished mine." I warned him. The Owens twins were almost as bad as Skids and Mudflap, though they weren't fighting all the time they could be mean if they ganged up on you and tended to be unable to work together very well.  
"I'm not I'm not!" he replied hastily, "But I _do_ have exciting news. You know we was working on that prank for Ray? We have a way to do it!" a devillish grin lit up my features and I scrambled into the drivers seat, patting the dashboard and sending Jazz racing off up the runway back towards the autobots hangar,  
"I'm on my way back now." I informed them. The twins were already waiting for me just inside the autobots hangar, eyes riveted on the basketball game going on across from us. I could recognise the blue and gold shorts from here, and watched in awe as Lennox swung around another player and took a shot, jumping slightly as he did so and extending his arms as the ball sailed into the net. My eyes lingered on him for a moment and as if he sensed my gaze he turned and gave me a nod of acknowledgement, slapping a high five with his team mate before heading back to his half of the quart and squatting down to ready himself to go again. Shaking my head, I turned my attention to the twins to plan out the prank we'd been planning for ages...let's just say that when Ray found us in fits of laughter three hours later, he wasn't all that happy that we'd used a laser cutter and a spray gun to dye his underwear a vibrant shade of hot pink.

* * *

"EJ you and Kane are on this shift." Jimmy ordered.  
"I was on the last one!" Kane protested as Kyle grinned impishly. It was the one time we could tell them apart, even after being together for almost nine months.  
"Fine! EJ and Kyle then!" Jimmy huffed, looking tired and frustrated. He shoved the last of his shirts into his duffel bag and zipped it up, looking at me pointedly with an expression that said _keep them in line while I'm gone_. Noding my head I climbed to my feet, motioning for Kyle to do the same. Jimmy was off for a week back to San Diego to see his little girl, which meant it was up to me to keep the team running in his absence. Since he was the eldest out of all of us Jimmy had become a sort of unofficial leader, with me as his unofficial second in command. The autobots had had a mission after energon detectors had gone off and tracked a Decepticon back to the Alps, more specifically Switzerland. They were currently somewhere cold and dangerous and though I wouldn't admit it outloud my stomach had been in knots since they'd gotten the call almost several hours ago. I hadn't ate much for dinner as a result of the sickening feeling in my gut but under Jimmy's watchful gaze I'd forced myself to eat something. I pulled Jimmy into a hug, having to go up onto my tiptoes to rest my chin on his shoulder,  
"Try and have a good time, yeah?" I murmered in his ear as I pulled away. He grunted in acknowledgement, sour expression ever present on his face but the gratitude he felt showing in his eyes.

Jerking my thumb over my shoulder towards the door, I gave Kyle the hurry up signal and headed out. Night had fallen and the air was crisp and cool, the sky was an inky black colour but the floodlights that lit up the hangars and runways caused so much light pollution you couldn't see the stars. That was one of the main things I had missed about being at home, I'd always had a good view of the stars but now they just weren't anywhere to be seen. The thing I did miss most was missing out on my brothers life. Last time I'd seen him on video chat he'd had a busted up lip thanks to that dirt bag Trent, and I had so badly wanted to go back home just so I could fight back on Sam's behalf but knew I couldn't - I was pretty sure I could sweet talk Lennox into letting me take a glock with me too if I wanted to. Firearms training was one of the highlights of my week. I could not only strip it down and put it back together (something that the good Major had insisted I learn how to do just incase) but I could reload with my eyes closed and could hit the close up targets nine out of ten. I still had a few issues with long range shooting but we were working on that. Kyle had fallen into step beside me and we walked in companiable silence, nodding at the skeleton crew manning the communications stations in the autobots hangar as we took up residence in our own little corner. There was a large metal cabinet for all of our engineering equipment and we'd saved as a team for weeks to be able to pay for a tatty sofa and arm chair. The team often arrived back later than they said they would and we had little sideprojects we liked to work on in our spare time, so the sofa was a great brainstorm team place.

I plopped back into the armchair and swung my feet up over the arm, resting awkwardly and closing my eyes while I twiddled my thumbs and tried push the worrisome thoughts away.  
"Communications team said they're about two hours out now." Kyle informed me, "So enough time to look over the specs for the plasma rifle." he added eagerly, and I could hear the metal cabinet creaking open. Lots of car manufacturing companies had plasma cutters to help with the bodywork of their cars, but what we wanted to do was essentially down size it. We'd only started wokring on it last week but it was already proving difficult. We had to shrink down all the inner workings (batteries, wires, the works) but the problem was it was not only hard to shrink but we lost a lot of power when we had to shrink the battery. Losing power made it essentially useless if we wanted to use it as a weapon against the decepticons. Closing my eyes, I merely hummed in agreement to whatever Kyle was mumbling about and intead tried to clear my mind and prepare for the autobots and the guys to return. "EJ are you even listening?" Kyle asked exasperatedly.  
"Yeah yeah." I mumbled casually. Kyle went back to grumbling under his breath and with not much else other than the tapping of computer keys behind us it was easy to fall asleep in the tattered old armchair.

Lennox's Point of View:

I was cold, hungry, dirty and it all had made for one irritated Major. Epps was sitting resolutely beside me, not caring that my slighty sour mood had made for a bad atmosphere that most of the team were avoiding. The Decepticon had gone down alright, but he'd put up a hell of a fight before he did so, setting off an avalanche that had buried half of our guys. The autobots had made short work of getting us out but I was still cold to the bone and in need of a hot shower...and soon. We were damn lucky that the worst of our injuries was a concussion for poor Biggs, and that had weighed heavily on me. The autobots were back in their alt modes and waiting patiently for the plane to land so we could all just go home. The Arcee sisters sat together, bodywork glistening in the harsh lighting of the cargo plane interior and Jazz was sitting quietly beside them, playing his tunes softly as was sort of his custom on missions now. When we finally landed, I ordered the boys to hit the showers and warm themselves up before following Epps to the autobots hangar. It was a bit of a paternal instinct to see them all safely back in the hangar getting their checkovers, but when we arrived the engineering team were nowhere to be seen. We'd only taken the Arcee sisters and Jazz but we still neded someone here. Glancing at my watch I noticed the time - 2:04AM. Grimacing a bit I realised we were two hours overdue, and suddenly didn't blame them if they'd packed up for the night. However, when we looked towards their corner we spotted two of them.

One of the twins was sprawled out on the sofa, his face covered by some sort of blueprint and his arm dangling limply over the edge; a notepad and pen had hit the floor at somepoint. The other was...well it brought a smile to my face. Ellie was curled up in the armchair, legs dangling over the arm and her head cradled between the arm and the back of the chair. Her lips were parted and she was snoring softly, one arm hanging over the arm of the chair and the other lieing between her legs, holding her calf. Chuckling to myself, I nudged Epps to see if he was seeing it too. Epps snorted quietly as I walked over and kicked the twin kid awake. He was startled and shot up, blueprints falling away and fluttering to the floor like leaves as he let out a startled cry of,  
"Shit! I didn't do it!" Ellie was awake in seconds and one her feet, eyes darting round wildly before resting on my laughing face with a bewildered and slightly dazed look in them. "What...what the?" the kid stammered, rubbing his face with a yawn.  
"What did you do?" she asked him suspiciously, stretching out her body as various things cracked and popped. Me and Epps were still laughing heartily, the expressions on their faces pushing us over the edge.  
"I didn't do anything!" the kid protested. Ellie frowned a bit,  
"You're always doing something." she replied, eyes looking around cautiously as the kid got to his feet and glared at her slightly,  
"Not this time, I swear!" he vowed defensively. Ellie looked him over, humming under her breath before she seemed to relax,  
"I swear to god if Kane jumps out from somewhere I'm gonna kick you so hard your future kids will feel it." she threatened.

By now, Epps and me were grinning at one another knowingly, my bad mood forgotten in the wake of the amusing scene. Ellie looked us both over, her eyes lingering on me the longest before she rolled those green eyes and ran her hand through my hair, ruffling it and sighing to herself as she grumbled about unacceptable hours and stupid soldiers. The remains of little snowflakes fell from my hair and I smiled slightly,  
"Thanks. Sorry to wake you up." I apologised, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. Ellie waved it off and slapped her cheeks lightly,  
"No problem, I'm awake." she said, but I thought she was trying to convince herself more than me, "But I can go to bed after this right?" she asked, her green doe-like eyes staring up at me with such innocence I couldn't help but smirk. Even as dishevelled as she looked working the late shift she was still radiant.  
"Yes, you can go to bed after this." I chuckled, squeezing her shoulder absent mindedly and marvelling in the all to familiar electrcity that passed between us. I watched her slap the kid into gear and grab her tool belt from the cabinet, seeing her eyes sparkle with that glimmer of excitement she always got when she was working on the autobots. It was her passion and it showed whenever she got the chance to work.  
"EJ you want to take your guy?" the kid asked. Ellie snorted slightly,  
"Considering the sisters are the closest you'll ever get to touching a woman I say go for it." she retorted with an impish grin.

All traces of tiredness were lost as they got to work, the shop talk flying back and forth was lost on me but it was fascinating to watch them work. Ellie was in her element and within fifteen minutes all the autobots were signed off as fit for duty. The kid was still clearly tired though, looking dead on his feet as he threw his stuff in the cabinet, Ellie smiled slightly and flicked his ear,  
"Get to bed Kyle, I can clean this up." she gave him a slight push to the door and he staggered that way, sighing and yawning as he made his way to his bed. I was half tempted to join him but then my eyes landed on the extraordinairy woman infront of me and I suddenly didn't want to leave. She was methodical in the way she worked, making sure everything was in its place and nothing was outstanding. Her eyes flickered up and glanced at me as she hooked the toolbelt up on the peg, "You know...you've been staring for quite a while. Do I have something on my face?" she asked quietly, rising to her full height and looking up at me inquisitively. Blinking in suprise, I slowly shook my head. Dammit, she'd caught me. In the last nine months I'd become increasingly aware of her and staring was becoming a bit of a bad habit.

Stifling a yawn, I looked at the floor in an effort to find something to say in my defense but I knew there wasn't one. I settled on the truth instead,  
"I just find it fascinating to watch you work." I confessed. Her light laugh made me smile, the sound never failing to coax a grin out of me. My eyes roamed over her as they so often did, drinking in every detail. Mesmerising green eyes were locked on me and as they looked me over I could see the relief in them, the tension that was fading from her shoulders and the tired smile that played on her lips. Suddenly she was frowning, and I was quizzically raising an eyebrow back at her,  
"You're telling me you don't feel that? You haven't gotten that seen to yet?" she asked incredulously, pointing at my jaw. My eyebrows furrowed a bit and I shook my head,  
"My face is a little numb, it's cold in the Alps you know." I brushed it off but she was having none of it, concern flooding her expression like she'd spotted me with a knife in my stomach,  
"Just how cold are you?" she asked suspiciously, hand reaching out and making me shiver when her palm hit my forehead, the burning heat radiating through me as she gasped, "Jesus Will you're frozen! Come on, you need a hot shower right now!" she ordered, eyes narrowing on me accusingly.

My eybrows rose, amusement dancing across my features as she dragged me out of the hangar by the hand, completely ignoring the fact that I was still in my heavy duty snow gear,  
"Ellie I think I can get back to my quarters on my own alright." I chuckled, though the idea of taking her with me was more than appealing. Ellie had shown me a whole other side of her in the last nine months yet still there was always something else that she was revealing to me, she was an ever changing mystery that was evolving everytime that I discovered something new. She could be playful, she could be sweet, she could be a viper if you riled her up enough though and she'd proved she was incredibly driven and not afraid to get down and dirty with the boys. Her team loved her to bits and I understood why perfectly. Ellie huffed slightly, still dragging me forward and glancing up at me accusingly,  
"Can you? Because you let yourself freeze for the past half an hour since you landed." she retorted stubbornly. Being Head of Operations here meant that I got to live a little more privately with Epps of course as my roommate. How she knew her way here I didn't quite know but I let her drag me inside, aware that I could already hear Epps snoring and wondered when he'd snuck away. She pushed me into my room and gave me a very pointed look that I recognised well. It'd been the expression she'd worn all the way through the Mission City battle, the expression she'd worn when arguing with me about whether softball was better than basketball during combat training that one time, it was her stubborn expression and I knew that meant that there was no getting rid of her now. "Get in that shower and don't come out for at least twenty minutes." she ordered, closing the door behind her.

Shaking my head bemusedly, I stripped off and grabbed my towel, doing just as she asked. It had definitely taken the twenty minutes she'd put me in here for and then some to get the feeling back into my skin, I didn't realise just how cold I had been until I'd let the hot water cascade over me, soothing my suddenly aching muscles and washing away all bad feelings from the mission to prepare for a new day tomorrow. That was when my jaw began to hurt, and in the warm shower my chin began to bleed again. Cursing under my breath I grimaced at the sting as I tried to just wash it out but it wouldn't work. The water was making it bleed even worse and I had to get out, pressing a towel against the wound as I wrapped one around my waist and took a look in the mirror. There was a nice looking cut on my chin, not too deep but aggravated by the shower by the looks of it. Groaning quietly, I slipped out of the bathroom and past Epps door, suprised to find Ellie sitting back on my bed and twisting her thumbs in an effort to keep herself awake.  
"What are you still doing here?" I asked, bewildered. Ellie looked up, face slightly paler than usual due to her lack of sleep but her eyes still as determined as ever.  
"Put some pants on." she said, ignoring me completely and tossing me a pair of black sweats I'd left out that I usually slept in. She turned around to give me the privacy I needed but it was a struggle to pull on sweatpants one handedly while clutching your chin with the other. She'd already got a first aid kit prepared and I felt a rush of affection - She was willing to lose sleep just to make sure I was cleaned up properly.

Finally, I'd managed to pull my sweat pants on and gave her the all clear, wandering over to my bed and sitting down on it,  
"You know that there's medics on base that can do this for me, right?" I questioned, "You need to sleep." Ellie waved me off with a sigh of frustration as she sat beside me. Moving the towel, she gently turned my face towards her and unapologetically cleaned the cut with an anti-bacterial wipe, ignoring my occasional wince when the sting was too much for my tired body to handle.  
"I'll sleep better knowing you're patched up." she mumbled, her touch feather light as she pulled up a packet of butterfly stitches.  
"You sure I don't need real stitches doctor?" I teased lightly, watching her glance up unamusedly. She couldn't hold the look though and dissolved into a smile, making me wince a bit since I had involuntarily smiled back.  
"It's less than five centimeters, clean and dry and it's not all that deep." she said absentmindedly. Her warm fingertips were carefully tugging the skin into place as she applied the butterfly stitches. Though it made my chin ache and made me wince I let her get on with it. Was she really that worried about me? Her thumb gently brushed over my jaw and she sighed slightly, shaking her head as she packed up the kit with a yawn.  
"Hey, you want to crash here? I can sleep in the chair." I offered, partially unsure she'd make it back to her own bed and partially unsure whether or not I wanted her to leave. My jaw was still tingling from her touch and I couldn't get her out of my head; I had to do something about that and soon.

Those green eyes were turned on me again, the full force of their power unleashed on me,  
"That's sweet...I'll be okay to make it back though, thank you." she said, voice quiet and calming. "You need to sleep though, you've had a long day." she added, wagging a finger at me almost accusingly. Nodding my head slightly I stood up and walked her to the door, of my room, pointing out the bathroom so she could wash her hands even though she most likely already knew where it was. Our uniform wasn't supposed to be flattering, yet somehow she still managed to make it look like something extravagant. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep after she left, the imprint of her fingertips on my skin would be too distracting, my thoughts were keep spiralling to what would have happened if I made her stay. Ellie hummed under her breath, thanking me quietly and turning to walk away before I grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "What is it?" she asked, preplexed by my sudden action. If I was honest so was I but I had to do something to keep her here, even if just for a little while longer. "Will are you okay?" she frowned, concern colouring her tone.  
"Thank you." I said softly, realising I hadn't said it yet. Ellie rolled her eyes a bit, laughing lightly,  
"You're welcome." she answered, and before I could think of a good enough reason to get her to stay the night she was gone. Although, when I came down with a cold a few days later she was the first one that came walking in with a hot bowl of soup for me and an extra blanket from storage.


	15. Chapter 15: Speed Dating

**A'N: Hello everyone, here's a new chapter for you! Sorry it took so long, I'm revising for mock exams now and it means putting in some late hours at college, but I'm still working on updating every week or two for you. Thanks for your reviews** **RougeReaper** **and** **Hestia28** **, I'm glad your enjoying it enough to keep reading! :D Once again I do not own Transformers or anything related to it, only my OC Ellie.**  
 **Best Wishes,**  
 **Jess x**

Ellie's Point of View:

"Dude you've been with Mikaela for a year now!" I exclaimed, "That's got to deserve some sort of special date!" Sam was staring at me with his mouth agape. His cheeks had been flushed a light pink and his green/grey eyes had widened with alarm,  
"Do you think she'll be expecting that?" he asked, voice wavering nervously. Snorting I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear,  
"Erm, yes? It's your one year anniversary Sammy and that's special! She'll want romance and-"  
"Romance?" Sam cut me off, reaching across the island in the kitchen to grab something and write that down, "Okay, romance like what?" he asked eagerly. My eyes rolled skyward,  
"I'm not helping you plan out your date Sam." I sighed. His eyes turned large and puppy dog like and I felt the slight churn of guilt in my stomach. Damn him and his little brother adorableness! "But you might want to think about dinner and flowers and a nice piece of jewellery." I added reluctantly. Sam grinned at me, a kilowatt smile that told me he'd planned the guilt trip all along. Leaning back in his chair he crossed his arms over his chest, observing me carefully through the screen,  
"So first year on base...you celebrating that one year anniversary too?" he asked. Laughing slightly I nodded my head,  
"Ray had some leave recently, brought back some beers for us from San Francisco. We'll probably drink them and play some pool in the rec room." I informed him, "But we'll be on duty so we won't have much time party."

The team was out on a mission again, which meant I was currently missing a session of firearms training and so had time to call my folks. Sam had picked up after ten minutes and we had been skyping for a good twenty minutes sincce. He was sitting in the kitchen at the island, sunlight streaming in behind him and lighting up the house. I could hear voices coming through on his end though and prepared myself for my inevitably frosty encounter with my mother.  
"What are you doing?" a masculine voice demanded. Relief washed over me and I smiled,  
"Hey dad!" I called out, watching him shuffle into the background and smile at the screen,  
"Hey honey!" he greeted me cheerfully, "How's things over there?" Dad had calmed down on the whole 'you're going to die' thing and was now far more accepting of my career choice. My mom was still less than happy with me and greeted me with rather unsavoury nicknames whenever I video called home.  
"Things are great here dad, plenty to keep me busy." I answered with a grin. Sam snorted slightly and dad distractedly told me how great it was that I thought it was great. Typical Witwicky response. "Listen, I've been doing some thinking recently and I'm entitled to-" before I could voice my idea about coming home for a visit my radio went off, a frantic Epps yelling at me to get my ass to the hangar now. "Sorry duty calls gotta go love you bye!" I rushed out my farwell and slammed closed my laptop lid, springing to my feet and telling Epps I'd be right there. I sprinted out of my room, ignoring the confused looks I got from my team and barrelling out of the door. I didn't think I had it in me to move so fast but I made it to the hangar in record time.

My heart stilled in my chest, my legs stumbling to a halt as I took in the giant silver form before me on the floor. Jazz was sprawled out like a ragdoll on the concrete, Lennox pacing frantically beside him as Epps stood in the doorway, looking shocked. No, no this couldn't be happening, not Jazz! Snapping out of my trance I sprinted for my autbot and kickied his finger hard,  
"No! Come on you lazy ass what's the matter! Get up! Speak to me! Something!" I yelled frantically, heart pounding hard in my chest. Anxiety had twisted my stomach in knots but I couldn't affod to give in, even when my fingers began trembling.  
"We don't know what happened, the rest of the team went off and he just collapsed." Lennox informed me, frowning down at the autobot in worry. Swallowing thickly I nodded, "I need to get my tool belt, can you radio the guys?" I didn't wait for Lennox's nod before I was already strating towards the cabinet in the hangar. Before I could take two steps something cold and metal snatched me from the floor, throwing me up into the air. Screaming at the top of my lungs I flailed as I began to fall, hearing Lennox yell my name in a panic as I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see my imminent death. I was expecting to crash into the concrete, to splat like an egg and feel rippling agony before my world went dark and my whole life began to flash before my eyes. Sam, oh Sammy had no idea just how much I really did love him, and I hadn't made things right with my mom...that was when I hit something soft.

Gasping in confusion, my eyes shot open and I took in the interior of a Pontiac Solstice, hearing an engine roar as we rocketed off down the runway and away from the autobot hangar with Epps waving sweetly at me in the window. Panting for air I tried to calm my racing heart, glaring at the steering wheel infront of me and slamming my hand down hard on the rim (even though I was sure it hurt me more than it hurt him),  
"Jazz what the fuck are you doing!" I bellowed furiously. When Jazz didn't reply I continued to slap him hard before I had to cradle my throbbing hand against my chest, "Jazz stop right now and talk to me goddamit!"  
"Ellie what the fuck is happening?" Lennox demanded. I jumped out of my skin and stared wide eyed at Lennox, who sat rigidly in the passenger seat looking slightly pale and very angry. My own face paled slightly and my trembling hands wouldn't stop,  
"I don't know!" I yelled, the panic in my voice bringing Lennox to his senses. When had he even got here! He grabbed my arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze as I screwed my eyes closed and braced my free hand on the steering wheel, I could barely hear anything over the pounding of my heart in my ears, "Jazz stop, please, you're scaring me!" I screamed. I'd only ever been this afraid once before in my life and that time had involved a taser, the police and a drunk Cordelia...don't ask. Jazz finally stopped, swinging around behind a hangar and turning off the engine.

I scrambled for the door handle but Jazz pushed down the locks, refusing to let us out,  
"Jazz let us out right now." Lennox ordered, voice steely and hard as I tried to regain my breath. The radio clicked on and I found my eyes widening at his stubborn reply,  
" _Revealing the truth that was buried inside, filed up feelings that are now bursting at the seams."_ it sang.  
"What the hell are you talking about!" Me and Lennox both exclaimed, the tips of his ears turning red as I desperately forced down my own blush. My stomach writhed and I felt physically sick at what Jazz was implying. I hadn't told him this so he could torture me with it for gods sake! If this was his way of trying to help I was not amused.  
 _"I've known it from the moment that we met, no doubt in my mind where you belong."_ Jazz sang. Swallowing thickly, I knew I had no chance to hide my blush this time.  
"Jazz what the hell are you doing?" Lennox questioned, sounding and looking quite agitated. I couldn't agree more because the last thing I wanted was to be having this conversation.  
 _"Searching all my days just to find you."_ Jazz persisted.

Sighing slightly I sat back in the seat, running my hand through my hair and hugging my knees to my chest,  
"Jazz is this what I think this is about?" I groaned.  
 _"I can't fight this feeling any longer and yet I'm still afraid to let it show, what started out as friendship has grown stronger, I only wish I had the strength to let it show."_ Jazz crooned. Burying my head in my hands I tried to hide myself, praying the ground would swallow me whole. _"And you Mr-"_ The radio kept singing and I guessed this was directed at Lennox _"I can't believe her hold on me, it's so indescribable."_ the radio clicked off and we were left in an awkward silence, one that pressed in on us from all angles and threatened to crush us both. My whole body was burning with embarrassment when Lennox cleared his throat.  
"Jazz this is ridiculous, just stop this and let us out." I pleaded,  
 _"I'll wait forever if it's worth the waiting."_ the radio sang before cutting off again.  
"Is he seriously going to sit here until we say it?" Lennox growled, sounding pissed. Flinching at his harsh tone I risked a glance, peeking at him from the corner of my eye to see him glaring at the dahsboard. "This is so stupid! We were really worried about you goddamit! Was Epps in on this too?" he demanded. Jazz remained silent and I knew he was done talking until we started too.

I hugged my knees tightly, mentally cursing Jazz and promising him a whole world of pain next time I had access to my tool belt.  
"Look, whatever you think we have to say to each other...we don't, okay? So, so just drop it." I tried, wincing at the detatched note in my voice.  
"Bullshit." Lennox sighed, running his hand over his face. Eyes widening I shuffled around to face him, seeing the almost tired expression on his face, "He wants us to talk this out, fine, let's just get it over with." he insisted, "There's something between us, and you can't deny that. Whatever it is...it's electric and we can't keep dancing around it if everyone else is noticing too." Lennox stated, brown eyes locking on me as I struggled to close my jaw. He was right, I knew he was and thought it pained me to admit it, I slowly had to nod my head in agreement. This is not how I had wanted this to go, the tension rippling between us was unbearable and it wasn't the good kind of tension either, it was the awkward I'd rather be anywhere else but here kind. We waited in silence but Jazz was quiet, still not letting us out, so I guessed it wasn't enough.  
"Look I...I know there's something there but I can't say for sure that I...that we...I mean..."I trailed off, uncertain how to word it but Lennox nodded, his expression softening slightly,  
"I know." he assured me, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. Some of the tension eased away and he leaned back against the door with a sigh, "But...maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to find out." he suggested lightly. My jaw had dropped again and I was already beginning to sputter a thousand excuses as to why that would be a bad idea when Jazz intervened again,  
 _"What are you afraid of? This is not unheard of. Nothing's how it wasn't always meant to be, always meant to be."_ My eyes wheeled between the radio and Lennox, who was smirking a bit at me as he rubbed the back of his neck. Goddamn that smirk! And damn that masculine smell of his aftershave that was making me dizzy!  
"Afraid you'll like me huh?" he taunted, voice playful but eyes almost disappointed.

Narrowing my eyes I glared at him, crossing my legs and pointing at him accusingly,  
"I do like you!" I snapped, "I mean, like a friend likes another friend!" I amended quickly, "I don't know if I...like, like you?" I groaned slightly as Lennox snorted,  
"Like like me? What are we, five?" he asked with a chuckle.  
"One of us is." I grumbled, glaring at the radio now. Lennox snickered slightly and I peeked up at him from under my lashes, my cheeks burning slightly before I was giggling with him. We fell into a fit of laughter, realising how ridiculous this all was. We were both adults! We shouldn't have to have an alien car lock us in to make us sort out our confusing feelings. Besides, it wasn't like I was certain anything more would come of this. "God this is so messed up." I sighed, running my hand through my hair and inhaling deeply. I could smell the sun on Lennox and guessed their latest mission had been somewhere hot. Lennox hummed in agreement and unclipped his tac vest. He hadn't even had time to get his gear off bless him. "If you were any other guy...I'd want to see what this was." I confessed. Lennox looked slightly disgruntled by that,  
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively. My eyes widened a bit and I groaned,  
"That's not what I meant!" I panicked, "I mean, I did, sort of...mean it that is, but I...I'm not good at this!" I cried, burying my face in my hands. Taking a deep breath, I tried to put my thoughts into a coherent sentence, "You're not just my friend...you're my boss." Lennox made a noise of understanding and cocked his head,  
"You don't want people to think your screwing your pay check out of me." he guessed, putting it bluntly. I flinched but nodded, cheeks burning.

Lennox sighed a bit, leaning his head back against the headrest and staring up at the ceiling. The silence was deafening and I wished more than anything I knew what to say to break it. The sun was beating down hard today, glinting off of Jazz's bonnet and warming the car horribly. I flicked the AC controls and Jazz got the message, putting it on for us to cool us down. Lennox had closed his eyes, letting the cold air wash over him and give him some relief from his sticky uniform. I allowed my eyes to travel over him; observing his strong jaw, the flawless sunkissed skin and the muscles hidden by his baggy uniform made me shudder with pleasure at the thought of being able to call all of that mine. He straightened his legs out as best he could but they were long and he had to bend them slightly still. I felt the familiar flutter in my stomach that came about whenever I looked at him, heard my heart beat a little louder when I couldn't remove my eyes from his face.  
"The night we came back late, the night you fixed up my jaw...do you have any idea how many excuses I tried to make up to get you to stay?" Lennox asked, turning his head and using the full force of his brown orbs on me. I was drowning in his coffee coloured eyes and swallowed thickly, finding that it wasn't all that unplesant to just sink deeper and deeper into them until I was completely enveloped in the endless abyss.  
"And if I had?" I asked quietly. Lennox's expression was open and sincere, letting me know that everything he was saying was the truth,  
"I don't know...I don't think I had all that much self control." a shiver of delight ran down my spine and I sub conciously bit my lip, trying to push away the images that sprang to mind and made my skin feel hot and tingly.

Eyes flickering to the floor I allowed myself a brief respite from his intense gaze. That was one thing I was sure I _did_ love about him; when Lennox looked at you he really looked at you, he saw everything and knew what every gesture meant and what every expression was trying to convey, it was easy to communicate with him without words, something I wasn't all that good with recently. When he listened, he really listened, not just some half assed 'I'll forget what you said later' kind of listening but actually listening, hearing everything you didn't say aswell as what you did. He was fair, fun, tough, strong, dependable, everything you could think of to describe most women's idea of Prince Charming really...so why was I holding back when Prince Charming wanted me?  
"What if I told you you could have given me any of those excuses and I probably would have stayed?" I blurted. Lennox arched an eyebrow at me slightly, eyes searching mine for any trace of a lie and I held his gaze reassuringly. Exhaling sharply he leaned his head back again,  
"I'd probably ask you why the hell we're still dancing around this."he answered, motioning vaguely between us. That was when Jazz finally spoke to us once more,  
 _"She said shut up and dance with me!"_ My eyes widened and I blushed bright red, slapping the dashboard and scolding him for his interruption. Lennox snorted, unable to keep from chuckling,  
"They're trying damn hard." he muttered. A small scowl came over my face,  
"I can't wait to get my hands on Epps." I growled. Scrunching up my nose I huffed and sat up straighter. Lennox was right, there was no reason we couldn't explore a little, see what this could be. That meant we were allowed to experiment right? A cry of frustration escaped my lips and I twisted in my seat, reaching forward and grabbing Lennox's jacket collar. I had yanked him forward so suddenly he had no time to protest, but judging by the smirk I could feel against my lips he wouldn't have protested all that much.

Holy crap could this man kiss. Had I seriously missed out on this for a year? His lips sure as hell knew what they were doing, capturing mine in an almost sinful way repeatedly until I could barely breathe, feeling like my head and my heart was ready to explode. He'd erased every thought in my mind with a single touch of his lips, brought every nerve ending in my body to life when his hand caressed my cheek gently, heated me up from the inside out and completely ruined my composure - not that I'd had much of that since this whole ordeal began. It wasn't that the kiss was some passionately hot make out session or anything, if anything it was soft and affectionate, but it was the tangeable electricity I'd gotten so used to feeling in the background that had brought us both to life, it was the pure and honest attraction he poured into the kiss that made it feel so much hotter than it was. But I really couldn't breathe anymore, my lungs were crying out for oxygen and I had to pull back for air, panting like I'd run a marathon and unable to open my eyes. His warm breath fanned across my cheeks, forehead pressing against mine and calloused thumbs brushing my cheekbone lightly,  
"Well shit." I breathed. Lennox dropped his hand with a snort,  
"I've been told I'm not _that_ bad." he protested playfully. Eyes opening, I pulled back enough to see him, spotting the satisfied gleam in his eyes and the slight smirk he couldn't quite rid himself of on the corner of his lips.  
"No it's not bad I...that was amazing actually I just...I can't exactly argue anymore." I frowned a bit and Lennox rolled his eyes,  
"I'm not letting you protest anyway...don't make any plans for friday, you're having dinner in my quarters and that's an order." he said, a hint of amusement in his eyes his smirk widening when my jaw dropped a tiny bit. But I knew he was right, I couldn't argue against this anymore and neither could he, so we might as well make the most of whatever this was while we could. So, I slowly nodded my head, and Jazz brought the engine to life,  
 _"Because I'm happy clap along if you feel like a room without a roof on."_ My eyes rolled a bit and I snorted,  
"Good for you Jazz...but your checkups going to be more painful than usual." I warned him. Jazz had no reply for that one.

But Friday had rolled around far to fast and here I was, stuck infront of my closet while I tried to figure out what to where. This was essentially a date and so I was going to dress up, it's not like I didn't have the clothes for it anyway and as a civillian I was allowed to date whoever I wanted on base. Okay so maybe I was slightly nervous. It'd been a while since I'd been asked on a date, my last dinner with Lennox had been a spur of the moment thing and this was different, we were knowingly and willingly having a date. Pursing my lips I glared at multitude of colours before me, groaning and burying my head in my hands when I realised I couldn't decided at all and I had only half an hour left. There was a light knock on my door and I looked up to see Kane and Kyle standing in the doorway, identical smirks on their faces.  
"Someone's going on a date." They sang in unison. Kyle (or was it Kane?) swooned against the doorway as his brother grabbed his hand and pretended to pepper it with kisses. Scowling I threw my pillow at them, slamming the door shut in their snickering faces and exhaling slowly. How was I going to play this? Casual and cool? Sexy? Smart casual? My door opened again and I groaned,  
"Oh my god get out already!" I exclaimed, turning to see not the twins but Jimmy in my doorway. His ever present scowl intensified for a moment as he shut the door and crossed his arms over his chest. "Sorry...thought you were the terrible two again." I apologised quietly and ran a hand through my hair. Jimmy nodded once, eyes flickering to my closet. As suddenly as he had appeared, he had crossed the room picked an outfit and left again, throwing a 'good luck' behind me.

My eyebrows furrowed slightly and I inhaled deeply, living with a group of guys drove me insane sometimes. I could smell the deodrant I had applied earlier and the coconut of my shampoo, all of it hanging in the air and tauntingly reminding me that perhaps my only saving grace was the way I smelled. Eyes flickering to the outfit Jimmy had left out, I tilted my head I looked it over before glancing at the clock on my bedside locker and leaping into action. I didnt have enough time left to mess around anymore if I wanted to show up on time, which was kind of a must do for a date, you know? By now I was starting to feel a little nervous, the cliché butterflies were fluttering in my stomach and my mouth felt slightly dry, my palms were sweating to but I didn't let that stop me. I had had dinner with Lennox before and it had been great! There was nothing to worry about tonight. Snatching up my hairbrush I began to mercilessly detangled the still slightly damp post-shower rats nest on my head, wincing when I ripped out a fair few strands of uncooperative hair that I hoped wouldn't leave me bald in the future. I didn't want to seem too desperate but I did also want to make a good impression, so I went for the simply yet elegant side ponytail with braids leading into it. Smiling a little at my reflection I dabbed some lipgloss onto my lips, smacked them and winked at my reflection while I spritzed some perfume about me and nodded in approval,  
"That's it Ellie, you knock 'em dead." I muttered to myself. Judging by the look on his face when I turned up, I had.


	16. Chapter 16: Christmas Special

**_A/N: Hello everyone, sorry it's been a while but I wanted to wait to get this christmas bit out...it's shamelessly fluffy I confess. To the_** ** _Guest_** ** _that reviewed and said Ellie was a Mary Sue, please don't just comment like that and leave it, talk to me! Drop me a message and tell me why you think that and we'll see if there's anything I can change to improve my character. I'm open to constructive criticism guys! Anyway, I'm hoping to have more chapters for you in the new year, I fell behind a bit with the mocks at college and so I need to write a few in advance before I post any again so you don't have to wait as long for updates. Until then, Merry Christmas guys an have a happy New Year too!_**

 _ **Best Wishes, JessBubble :D**_

Tongue poking out of the corner of my mouth I twisted the screwdriver around relentlessly, trying to piece together the casing on this damn christmas present for Jazz. He had been complaining for a while about wanting some sort of sword so I had put my head together with Ratchet and come up with the perfect gift for him. This sword was pretty damn cool in my opinion. It wasn't perfecly straight but curved (like the Grim Reapers sycthe) and the curve was serated with talon like edges on the metal. We had thought about it for a while and finally found a way to attatch it too Jazz too. Ratchet reckoned that if we put the holster in the boot (where you'd usually put a spare tyre) then when he transformed from his alt mode it would automatically be there for him to grab if he needed it. The holster had been the worst one to make. I'd hunted down every bit of scrap metal in existence on base and welded it together, hammered it into shape and spray painted it in his favourite colours. It had to be silver to blend in of course but he also quite liked electric blue, so I had spray painted stripes on it in blue for him. The blade itself was complete, and I had almost finished putting the casing for the handle together - after that I would have the task of connecting them but given how big this damn sword was it would be no easy task. Pulling back I blew a stray strand of hair up from my face, feeling the heat pressing in on me from all angles - there would be no snow for Diego Garcia. Sitting back in my wheelie chair I exhaled slowly, leaning my head back and spinning in slow circles to stretch out my sore shoulders some and give myself a break.  
"What on earth is that?" a familiar voice asked, bewildered.

Eyebrow arching gracefully on my head I looked up at Epps and watched his face spin in circles above my head,  
"What do you think?" I asked him curiously. Epps wrinkled his nose, brown eyes staring at the metal before me distrustingly,  
"With you? I think it could be anything." he answered wryly, "But that's not why I'm here. You know what you're getting Lennox for christmas yet?" His grin was mischievious and I frowned a bit, sitting up straighter and watching him suspiciously,  
"Yeah...why?" Epps snorted and pulled up a stool to sit beside me, fingers tacing over the blade,  
"Me and the guys were wondering if you'd be Mrs Clause this fine holiday." he confessed with a cackle. Groaning I buried my head in my hands, hearing Epps's booming laughter and feeling my cheeks redden as he added, "If you are I get fifty bucks."  
"You _bet on it!_ " I exclaimed incredulously. Epps snickered at my face and held his hands up in surrender. I could smell the sweat on him from him and spotted the sweat patches on his shirt - he'd been training new recruits again and Will was probably all sweaty too. Shoving his shoulder I shook my head, "No, I'm not going to be Mrs Clause. You can fuck right off if you're gonna be rude Epps." I warned him. Epps crossed his heart,  
"Alright alright, I swear no more." he vowed solemnly, "But seriously what is this?" he jerked a thumb at Jazz's sword and I explained it quickly to an impressed looking Epps.

Nodding his bald head in agreement he drummed his fingers on the table,  
"You haven't got Will a present yet have you?" I asked knowingly, a small smirk tugging on my lips. Epps's eyebrows rose in disbelief before he grinned sheepishly and nodded,  
"Damn straight, I've been busy! Help a guy out?"  
"I don't have anything you can give him." I shrugged, "You could always make something, like a christmas card I guess."  
"Draw a christmas tree on some paper...I can do that." he agreed sarcastically, "Out of curiousity what have you got him?" Glancing over my shoulder I checked the coast was clear before reaching down below my feet for the box I had completed earlier. It was only small, just a bit bigger than my palm and inside rested a flat black disc. Pulling it out I placed it in my palm and ran my other hand over the top, activating the sensors so a holographic image popped up. The autobots had memory traces that captured photographic images so it wasn't hard to extract this little image from Jazz and install it on the device based on the optics in Optimus's eye. Will had his gun raised, looking fiersome in the thick of battle as something behind him exploded while Ironhide was on one knee beside him, canons raised and aiming at something I couldn't see. Epps whistled lowly, "That's cool...really cool." Grinning slightly I packed it away again and shrugged,  
"Little bit of help from Jazz and some tech know-how and voilá." I chuckled. Epps clapped my shoulder, standing up abruptly and leaving as suddenly as he had appeared. My eyebrows rose but I said nothing, a small smile playing on my lips as I got back to work, the familiar flutter of christmas excitement beginning in my gut and promising an excellent christmas was to come.

* * *

I knew this christmas would be different from the others as soon as I woke up. One sure indicator was the fact that this year I actually had a boyfriend, but the other was the note stuck on the back of my door with tape. In my Donald Duck shorts and Mickey Mouse tanktop I stumbled towards the door, slipper booties on and hair up in a messy bun while I yawned and stretched. The paper was covered in a messy scrawl I had come to associate with Will, because he was always in such a haste to get things scribbled down as he preferred action over writing. A smile grew on my face when I read the infamous poem,  
"Twas the night before christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse." Opening up the door I found the floor was littered with little paper snowflakes and stars. Grinning slightly I felt a rush of affection for the man I got to call my boyfriend and followed the christmas confetti down the corridor and into the rec room of our dorm.  
"Merry christmas EJ!" the twins chorused with gleeful smiles and furry santa hats sitting proudly on their heads. Jimmy was slouched in the armchair and listening to the chessy christmas songs on the radio with an expression that was as sour as ever, but deep down I knew he was feeling the christmas spirit...way, way, way down. Ray was sitting at the breakfast bar and the beautiful smell of toast cooking filled the air. The coffee pot was steaming and he poured me a mug with a smile,  
"Merry christmas Ellie."  
"Thanks Ray, merry christmas guys!" I said cheerfully, parking myself on a stool and accepting the second note Ray slid across the countertop for me. "After breakfast she came to the hangar in glee to see her next clue from the wonderful me." I mumbled, shaking my head and snorting, "Wonderful my ass, I am not running around all day if I can help it."  
"I think it's sweet, he put a lot of effort into it clearly." Ray chuckled, "Now let's open presents!" his childlike enthusiasm was infectious and I nodded eagerly, letting the twins dish out the boxes under the tree and rolling my eye when they began to bicker over who handed out whose presents.

After splitting up yet another argument between the twins (who had stolen each others idea so we each had identical presents from them), unwrapping a six pack of Budweiser from Jim and a science set for kids from Ray that I assumed was a joke, I changed into my shorts and a t-shirt to find my next clue from Will. My curiousity had peeked by now as I entered the hangar to see the autobots lounging about, radios blaring christmas songs that deafened my eardrums as I entered the cool shade of the structure. Jazz flashed his headlights at me and I headed over with a grin, running my hand over his paintwork and patting the roof affectionately,  
"Merry christmas Jazz!" I raised my voice to be heard of the noise and I shook my head bemusedly when his door opened to reveal another scrap of paper lieing on the seat. Unfolding it I cocked an eyebrow slightly, "I can't think of any other ways to get the poem to rhyme so just go to the comfiest spot on base." Rolling my eyes I shut Jazz's door and said a quick goodbye, promising to come back later to give him his christmas present before I headed for the Engineer's corner. I had once told Will the tatty old armchair was the comfiest spot in the world, and so it was the armchair I searched around for a good five minutes until I found a small brass key and another set of directions. As corny as it was, it was an adorable attempt at a bit of christmas magic and it made my heart flutter as I followed my next clue, ignoring the emptiness of the base as the rest of the crew had some well deserved lie-ins. I ended up at their dorm, spotting Epps sitting in the living area with a smirk on his face and a mug of coffee in his hands,  
"Merry christmas Ellie." he tilted the mug at me and drained it in one gulp, "Liking your christmas trail?" he shuffled over to the kitchen and offered me a plate of pancakes, syrup already drowning them just as I had told Will my mother made for me on christmas day. Grinning from ear to ear I thanked him enthusiastically and scarfed them down with a contented sigh - damn could my guy cook! "He would have been here but he's had to go sort out a suprise for the kitchen staff." Epps informed me.

Nodding slightly I continued to munch my way through my pancakes, the sweetness and the sticky syrup riding down my throat in little bites of fluffy heaven - and I'm not over exaggerating there because I loved pancakes almost as much as I loved Will. I had finished my last pancake (feeling full up and warm inside) when Will came striding through the door, white button up short sleeve shirt on showing off his biceps and khaki coloured shorts, canvas plimsoles making next to no noise on the carpet as he grinned at me boyishly and wandered over to kiss the top of my head,  
"Merry Christmas babe, like your pancakes?" Laughing I let him take the plate from me and nodded eagerly,  
"Just like my mom makes, I am being spoilt rotten." I said, winking at Epps before I reached down into the pocket of my shorts and pulled out the small box I had wrapped yesterday for him. "Merry christmas to you too." I watched his eyebrow raise before he fixed his affectionate gaze on me, hands gently cupping my face so he could place a sweet kiss on my lips. Epps had to ruin the moment of course with a loud cough,  
"What about me El? I don't get anything?" he pouted and I grinned at him,  
"Head round my place and tell the guys you can have one of my bottles of Bud, merry christmas Epps." I said cheerfully. Will laughed and smirked a bit at his friend and I watched him open his gift from me with a nervous frown. What if he didn't like it? What if he didn't keep photographs or something? Chewing my lower lip I waited impatiently, watching him place the disc in his palm and jump slightly when the holographic image appeared. Eyes widening, he slowly poked a finger through the image, watching it go through in fascination before he pulled his hand back and whistled lowly,  
"Okay...my present looks shit now." he confessed, "This is amazing! Thank you!" he grinned in that disarming way of his and my knees almost went weak. "Jeez...is this what you were doing all yesterday?" he asked.

Shrugging slightly I didn't reply, merely watched with some amusement as he scrambled for the bedroom and called out for me to follow him excitedly. Laughing at his childishness I followed after him, leaning against the doorframe and watching him reach under his bed for a wooden box.  
"Okay, if there's a human head in there I will not be impressed." I teased. Will rolled his eyes at me, brown orbs glittering with amusement as I inhaled the smell of his room. God it smelled just like him and his cologne...I couldn't get enough of that smell ever. I didn't know at what point I'd fallen head of heels in love with him and begun to act like a lovestruck teenager, but I was drunk on the feeling and didn't want it to end anytime soon.  
"Haha." he deadpanned, "You still have the key I left in your corner?" Handing me the box so I could see the lock on the side. My eyebrows rose slightly and I nodded once, pulling the key from my pocket and pushing it carefully into the lock. Will smirked a bit and folded his arms over his chest, looking somewhat expectant as I opened up the box and gasped. It was a beautiful jewellery box with velvet red cushions and a small mirror. In the center was a tiny ballerina figurine, spining in slow steady circles, a sweet and beautiful piano melody drifting from the box as she danced.  
"Will...oh it's beautiful." I breathed, smiling up at him and seeing the relief in his brown eyes.  
"Ah but that's not all." he said with a wink. Reaching in he pulled up the velvet cuchion, revealing a gold chain lying just underneath. It was a locket, a simple oval shape with my name engraved on the front and an autobot symbol engraved on the back. He clicked it open with ease, "I had a little help from your brother...but I know you miss your folks back home...I thought this way you could still keep them close." Exhaling slowly, I struggled to fight off the urge to cry. My brother and my parents stared out at me from photographs I remembered taking so long ago, a family holiday in London I believed. It was so...so _sweet_ , and thoughtful. Blinking up at him in a slight daze I nodded slowly, the words stuck in my throat, but I didn't have to say them for Will to understand.

Chuckling under his breath he hooked it around my neck for me, letting me place the box down to throw my arms around him tightly. Will rubbed my back gently, his even breathing relaxing me as I melted into his warm embrace. Being with Will gave me a sense of peace that I hadn't felt before and his steady heartbeat in my ear lulled me into a sense of security.  
"I love it." I said finally, pulling back slightly to touch the locket and smile up at him. Will nudged my nose with his, grinning slightly as he dipped down to kiss me properly. Sighing contentedly I let his lips lead me in a dance that had me dizzy in moments. They were soft and inviting, coaxing my own lips apart so his tongue could explore my mouth. When he pulled back to let me breathe, I refused to let go of him and snaked my hand up to the back of his neck to pull him back towards me.  
"Not done yet Mrs Clause?" he murmered with a grin. Shaking my head I slid a hand up his chest and giggled,  
"Nope, and _never_ reference that stupid bet again." He kissed me deeply, grip on my waist tightening a little bit as I rose up on my tip-toes for him. Pulling back, he pressed his forehead against mine,  
"Ellie...I love you." he said it with such quiet conviction I felt my chest swell. Inhaling deeply I pressed myself closer, moving my nose over his in a sweet eskimo kiss,  
"I love you too Will...you're the best christmas present I've ever had." Will chuckled and hoisted me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist,  
"You know what the funny thing is? I was going to say the exact same thing about you." Snorting I rolled my eyes,  
"Shut up and kiss me again, smooth talker." Will snorted but obediently complied, lips viciously attacking mine until we had collapsed on his bed in a fit of laughter, trading soft, slow kisses filled with promises of a sweet future I couldn't wait to taste. It took me half an hour to pull back suddenly and stare at Will with wide eyes, "Oh my god...Will...I haven't given Jazz his present yet!" Will's eyes widened mockingly back at me before he tugged me up with a laugh,  
"Come on, we've got time still before the party really begins." he promised me, shaking his head fondly, "Do I need to be worried you'll leave me for an autobot?" Smirking I hummed in agreement,  
"You don't have a chrome finish...you don't stand a chance."


	17. Chapter 17: Family

_**A/N: Hey guys,  
So I was ill over the second half of christmas and got nothing done so I'm a little late with posting. This chapter sets us up for Revenge of the Fallen at least. Someone commented about double spacing and after I googled it (because I will shamelessly admit I didn't know what it meant and still don't if I'm honest) I thought that it wouldn't hurt to experiment with it a little. Does it help you read instead of just chunks of text or was it fine the way it was before? Anyway, hope you've all had a great start to 2016!**_

 _ **Best Wishes,  
JessBubble**_

That date had been pretty much the same as the last dinner we'd had together, only I learnt that Will was actually a very talented chef too. Who knew you could cook chinese without having to get it from a takeout shop? We'd barely stopped laughing for the whole evening and every silence was a comfortable one, there was no pressure, no expectations, but there was one or two kisses that probably broke laws somewhere. I had been subjected to mercilessl teasing from the boys and I knew Will had endured it from Epps too, but suprisingly the sergeant had no qualms about me spending an evening watching a movie with them or playing poker in their quarters with them. Actually, I'd been personally invited to four poker games by Epps and had wiped the floor with both him and Lennox for three of those games - Cordelia was a gambler when drunk and had taught me well. Speaking of Cordelia, she'd finally made contact with me, her farther had died and she'd been living in Nevada for the past year with her mother and finacé to get over the grieving period and now her wedding was scheduled for the winter. She loved the winter months and it was going to be in New York so she could have her wedding pictures infront of the huge christmas tree they always put up. Personally I thought it was going to be downright freezing and entirely impractical but hey, it was her wedding and as maid of honour I would have to help her plan her dream. Sam and Mikaela were still going strong too, and they were now half way through their senior year.

His last year at high school, my god they grew up so fast. Unlike a certain autobot that just didn't grow up at all. As promised Jazz had gone through a very painful examination that involved a few misplaced pliers and a welder that got too close for comfort, but now that I looked back over the past six months I couldn't be all that angry at him for what he had done. It was now a year and a half since I had joined NEST, and I hadn't had a single day where I regretted that decision so far, however it was quite hot in the summer months. We were coming towards the end of September now and Diego Garcia was honestly one of the hottest places in the world, I swear it rivalled India. Currently we were sitting on the tatty old sofa and by we I meant me and Ray Li (the quietest of the men I worked with but by far and away the nicest) and we were fine tuning the blueprints for the plasma rifle. We were so close to making the prototype and next week we had a presentation with Will and his CO General Morshower (who would appear through a video chat) to put forward the plan to get materials to build it. Ray had just sketched in a new pencil line to improve the sight when the team arrived back.

"We got an injury that needs immediate attention!" Epps called out. Tool belts fastened we sprung into action and headed towards the catwalks.

Optimus, Arcee, Chromia and Hide all went towards the back of the hangar to wait for their check ups, but to my suprise and horror it was Jazz that awkwardly lumbered towards us and stood ready for a complete look over.

"Jazz!" I groaned, "What's wrong pal? Talk to me." I ordered, crossing my arms over my chest as Epps and Will came to stand inside, looking up at him with concerned frowns.

The smell of singed metal suggested they'd been in a firefight and I could see Arcee had a scorch mark. The light coming in from the open hangar door was bright and lit up the room perfectly, but since it was an enclosed space and the sun hadn't gotten into it the back of the hangar was somewhat cool, a relief compared to the sweltering sun outside. There was sand caked around Epps and Wills noses where the bandanas and goggles hadn't covered them from the dust of the freakin' desert they'd been called to.

"I have something stuck in my arm sugar, can't move the gears or anything to change back." Jazz replied, "It's a world of pain."

"Which arm?" I asked him, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Ray was silently assessing Jazz's internal functions with one of our scanners as I hopped up the catwalks and pulled out my mini tablet. It was essentially a wrist watch that communicated with all of the systems within the hangar. I could pull up files, start running programmes or end them at the push of a button, or (as I was currently doing) I could use the pulley system above the catwalk. I quickly fastened the ropes around Jazz's arm and used them as a sling to hold it up while I worked on it. It didn't take much effort at all really to locate the problem because I could see the stones caught in the cogs from where I stood on the catwalk.

Siging to myself I pinched the bridge of my nose to fight off the urge to scream in frustration,  
"Dammit Jazz it's not as bad as you're making it out to be, stop being such a baby." I grumbled.

"Ray throw me up the scope for the cutters will you?" I called down, seeing Ray glance up at me and nod his head once.

We'd created a scope to attatch to the pen-sized cutters to help us see better because we couldn't always get to the places we needed to fix and so we needed to be able to acurately see long distances.

"Hey, is he gonna be okay?" Will's familiar voice made me glance to my right to see him staring at the metal arm infront of him.

Sending him a reassuring smile I nodded my head,  
"He'll be fine once I remove those stones from his elbow joint. They're stopping the gears from turning here so we can't move his arm, never mind transform to his alt mode. Ray'll be able to tell you more about what's going on with his systems if you're that worried dad." I teased lightly.

His brown eyes narrowed on me playfully and I couldn't help but laugh when the sand encrusting his nose crinkled and fell away, leaving lines of slightly paler tan on his dirty face. Will nudged me playfully as I attempted to cach the scope Ray threw at me, knocking me off to the side and catching it himself.

"I think you dropped this." he snickered as I scowled at him.

"Hey, we said we were going to be professional while on duty." I chided, but I didn't mean a word of it.

Will's eyes rolled,  
"Immediate dangers passed and no ones looking, I'm allowed to appreciate my girlfriend you know." he retorted, eyeing me as he spoke in that delightful way that made me skin prickle and flush.

Clearing my throat I attached the scope and tried to shake off the feeling of his eyes on me. "I'm off for a shower anyway, you still coming over later?" he asked, hand gently brushing mine as I lifted my arm and settled my hand on it, like you see the people in the movies do when they're holding pistols.

"Of course I am, I wouldn't miss your homemade burgers for anything." I grinned at him and saw him smirk,  
"I swear you only like me for my cooking skills." he joked. My eyes rolled a bit and I nudged him away with my hip,  
"Yeah right, give over." I snorted.

We weren't at the stage where we could say I love you yet, though I was certain I was getting there and I knew Will cared enough about me for it to be called love. Will chuckled at me, a soft and affectionate smile playing on his lips before he bid us farewell and left the hangar. Shaking my head fondly, I focused back on the task at hand, finding it easier to keep my mind off of Will when I was completing a task because I now had the right to think about him as often as I wanted too when I was off duty.

"Ellie! Do you need a hand?" Ray called up.

Glancing down I shook my head,  
"Nah, I'll be fine thanks." I shouted down.

Ray nodded once and left me to it as I lined up my shot with the cutter, leaning as far as I dared over the railing before pressing the button down for a brief second. A brilliant beam of red shot out of the end and burst the rock into smithereens, the gravel dust falling to the floor as I shot the remaining two rocks down.

Straightening up I smiled to myself and nodded once,  
"Alright Jazz, try that." I instructed, pulling back the pulleys and sending them back up to their fixings in the ceiling.

Jazz curled his arm up like he was doing bicep curls before nodding his head and nudging me with his finger,  
"Thanks sugar, I feel loads better." he chuckled.

My eyes rolled a little bit,  
"Yeah yeah, because that totally would have killed you without me." I teased, patting his finger and watching him amble away to transform into his alt mode and get some much needed rest.

Ray was already looking over Optimus so I headed towards the purple bike, grabbing the hand held scanner from it's pouch on my toolbelt and synching it up to my wrist tablet.

"Hey Arcee, how's things today?" I asked her with a smile.

I would have been lieing if I said I didn't envy the femme bots just a little; they were graceful yet powerful, like lionesses, and not to mention fiercely loyal which was a trait I valued highly in people.

"Quite well thank you." Arcee replied.

She could be polite when she wanted to be, but mostly she was a bit sarcastic and kept up quite a strict and professional demeanour.

"Jazz being a baby again?" she enquired as I scanned her over, seeing her readings were all within normal parameters for her.

Scoffing I replied,  
"You know it. Anything I need to know about?" Arcee huffed slightly and so I left it alone, knowing that if she needed help she wouldn't admit it when you asked her, you had to let her come to you if she had a problem but still I persisted, hoping to gain a bit more trust from her. Ray was fixing up a deep bullet hole on Optimus so I moved over to Chromia, marking Arcee off as fit for duty as I went.

"Hey Chromia." I greeted her and was happy when I received a slightly more enthusiastic reply.

Chromia was the nicest of the sisters in my opinion, not that I'd tell Flare-Up or Arcee that because they'd probably shoot me. She could be just as strict and professional as they were on a mission, but she was quit relaxed when hanging around at home and very curious about life as a human, it was something we'd spent hours talking about and I had learned a lot about the history of Cybertron from her.

"I've got a bullet in my tyre that I can't get out, if you'd be so kind." Chromia informed me.

Nodding my head I moved around behind her and grabbed my pliers from my belt. She moved forward slightly on her one wheel to give me a better view of it and I had it out within seconds, completeing my scans and putting my tools away. More often than not there was nothing wrong with the autobots, just minor scrapes that took seconds to fix.

"Feel better?" I questioned.

Chromia nodded her head and folded in on herself until there was a nice blue bike sitting before me. Absent mindedly I patted her handle bars and exchanged a look with Ray; we were both done and ready to call it a day.

"Alright, you're all fit for active duty." Ray declared with a small smile, a twinkle of pride in his eyes.

Ray was a good guy really and I could aways count on him to have some good counsel when I needed it. Once our belts were packed away we headed back to the bunks, which is where we spent most of our time really, - we were essentially payed to laze around and only do real work for a few hours of the day. Of course, the salary was pretty damn good because the government wanted to keep us employed and keep us quiet. It was a win win scenario for us really because none of us wanted to leave.

"You're spending the night at the Major's aren't you?" Ray asked, innocent curiousity in his voice.

My eyes rolled a bit as we walked back across the tarmac, beads of sweat already forming in my hairline as I tried not to complain about the heat. Nodding my head I sent him a warning look, knowing that even as the quiet guy he wasn't above teasing me.

Ray grinned at my expression and I couldn't help but smile back,  
"He's making those homemade burgers I love." I said.

Ray snorted,  
"Don't let the major know you're telling people he's domestic, he has a reputation to uphold you know." he chuckled.

Inhaling deeply, I caught the scent of lasagna and realised that it was coming from our bunk. My eyebrows rose in suprise and Ray smirked, "You sure you want burgers instead? Jim sure as hell knows how to cook Italian." he said teasingly.

Glaring at him I swatted his arm,  
"Damn sure." I stated confidently.

Ray just laughed at me, lightly punched my shoulder and walked off to go home while I headed towards Will and Epps's place. It was one of the furthest away bunks but I'd walked the path there so many times now I could tell you which one of the identical grey bunk houses it was with my eyes closed. The door was ajar and I slipped inside, hearing the pattering of water in the shower and smelling fresh onions as I shut the door behind me. It was nice and cool in here thanks to the air conditioning (well being in charge had to have some perks right?) and I sighed in relief as it began to cool the sweat on my forehead.

"Hey you." I greeted, spotting Will standing over a chopping board in the kitchen.

He looked up and shot me a dazzling grin that made my knees weak. Their bunk was quite nice really, with the typical cream walls and a thin almost non-existant carpet in black. The furniture was all wooden and they had their own pool table after putting their wages together to buy it. The TV was great too and they had a whole host of movies they had brought from home to put on their shelves.

Will greeted me with a nod towards the cupboard holding their pots and pans,  
"Hey, I don't suppose you could grab me a frying pan and drizzle a bit of oil in it could you?" he questioned.

Giggling to myself I nodded my head and did as he asked, grabbing the bottle of vegetable oil on the side and pouring a little bit into the frying pan, swilling it about to coat the surface before I stuck it on the stove. Will lit it with one hand while scraping up the onions with the other to dump them in the pan.

"Thanks El. Epps is just in the shower so I hope you don't need the bathroom." he chuckled.

Grimacing I held my hands up in surrender,  
"Nope, I'll just plait my legs for a while." I shuddered at the thought and Will's smirk made me grin back at him.

He was so charming and his good mood was infectious, unfortunately so were his bad moods but thankfully he was rarely ever in a foul mood. He'd washed his hands by now and quite happily slung an arm around my shoulder while he kept an eye on his onions, the smell of mincemeat on the grill was now bombarding my senses and I could feel my mouth watering. Sighing happily, I dropped my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, feeling content and warm. Will gave my arm a squeeze and dropped a kiss ontop of my head. Eyes opening I huffed and looked up at him with a pout.

"What?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

My eyes rolled,  
"If you're going to kiss me can't you do it properly? It's been a long day." I sighed dramatically and Will chuckled,  
"You know I find that offensive, my kissing is great." but he still dipped his head obediently to capture my lips with his own.

Unfortunately for me, Epps had just had to walk in at that moment,  
"Whoa! I only came in for something to eat man, keep it PG." he exclaimed.

Epps was smirking at us, brown eyes twinkling with mischief. Will glared at him slightly and I groaned,  
"You're making it sound like you caught us doing the nasty."

Epps's grin grew wider and I almost knew what was coming before he said it,  
"A few more minutes and I might have."

Will snorted slightly and went back to his burgers, flipping them over and running his onions around the pan with his spatula. Epps slid a cold beer across the countertop towards me and I caught it with a grin, shaking my head at his childishness and catching the light blush on Will's cheeks.

"Thanks Epps." I sighed happily and ran the cold bottle over my forehead.

Will raised an eyebrow at me as I placed the lid on the edge of the countertop and slammed my hand down on it, pulling the bottle away with a pop as the tinkling sound of the lid hitting the floor filled the air.

"Hang on a minute who's been your best friend longer?" he protested.

Epps just shrugged and came to stand beside me,  
"You may have been my man long before you were hers." he conceeded, "But if we were in the middle of nowhere and broke down...she's the one that can fix my car."

Will rolled his eyes at the pair of us as I laughed,  
"Oh yeah, I'm really the man of the relationship, I'm domesticating him. Imagine him in a flowery apron." I joked.

"Yeah yeah, hillarious." Will deadpanned, but Epps was too busy laughing to hear him,  
"Oh man I see it! Come on Cinderella, I'm starving." he chuckled.

Snickering I shook my head, seeing the heated glare Will was sending him and knowing he'd had enough.

"You'll keep starving too if you spread that rumour." Will promised him.

Epps merely sipped at his beer and grinned at him but he knew not to press his luck. I watched him as he went about prepping the plates, throwing some salad on the sides haphazardly and moving with such practiced ease I was almost jealous.

"Maybe if Ellie learned to cook we'd have something other than junk food to eat." Will added with a smirk, eyes flickering to the open bag of chips by the microwave.

Sipping at my beer I hummed thoughtfully, letting the alcohol burn my throat and cool me down. Truthfully I had tried to learn to cook once but I'd burnt everything I put in the oven and had actually had to call the fire brigade out once to my student apartment after a terrified Cordelia had screamed about smoke while I was in the shower. The scent of freshly cooked onions and burgers mixed and danced over my nose, making my stomach rumble loudly. Homemade cooking brought back memories of my mother and I tried not to grimace as she still wasn't happy with me, however thinking of my mother brought another thing to mind that I needed to ask.

"Hey, I meant to ask...I mean, I've yet to put in for it officially but do you forsee any problems with me taking a week off in a few months? Besides untimely disasters I mean." I spoke up with a small smirk.

Will placed a fork on each plate and handed one across to Epps as we sat down at the dining room table. It was only a small four seater thing but it served our purposes well.

"There's nothing pressing coming up that I can think of, why?" Will questioned curiously.

"Your brother got in?" Epps guessed, looking pleased.

Nodding my head I grinned, watching Will's brown eyes light up and that smirk I loved twitch his lips upwards. Truthfully Sam had been owed big time after the Mission City incident and the government had promised to pay all of his education fees, so he had only had to choose which college he wanted to go to and put a little pressure on them to help him get in.

"Nice going! Wonder how he'll handle leaving Mikaela." Will mused, sipping at his beer before he stabbed a bunch of fries and stuffed them in his mouth like a starving man.

Will and Epps ate like everyday was their first meal in one hundred years...every meal of the day. Shaking my head I bit into my burger, struggling not to sigh as the juicy meat spread the flavours across my tongue, the crunch of the onions and lettuce just making it that more delightful to bite into, god I loved Will's cooking more than I should have. Maybe I could get him to do me something and freeze it so I could take it with me back home?

"No clue, but he got his place at college and I promised I'd try and make it over to help him move his stuff in." I said with a shrug.

Will nodded his head, brown eyes watching me affectionately. It was something I had become accustomed to and found I actually quite liked; knowing that someone was watching me was comforting, at least it was when he watched me like that.

"Well congratulations to him! To Sam!" Epps cheered, lifting his beer up and tipping it slightly.

We quickly joined in, toasting my brother and draining our beer bottles before digging into our food, the laughter and the warmth enveloping me like the worlds most comfortable sweater. I truly did have a great family here and even if I missed my real one like hell these guys made up for it. But life was certainly never dull, which was of course why my radio had to go off in that moment when I was half way through a delicious burger.

"EJ we need you to come down to the hangar." an excited sounding Kyle (or was it Kane? For gods sake!) insisted.

My eyebrows furrowed and I reluctantly answered his call,  
"What do you need Kayo?" it was easier to call the Owens twins Kayo because it was literally just the initials of their name, and since they both had the same initials there was no confusion...well, less confusion anyway.

"We think we finalised the plan for the pulse grenades!" Ray called out in the background.

Groaning I shook my head,  
"And I think I'm going to die of starvation if you don't let me eat!" I retorted childishly.

"You're fat, you don't need food." one of the twins scoffed.

I could hear his brother laughing in the background and cried out in protest,  
"Hey! You're all jerks to me, why do I live with you lot?"

"Because you love us really." Kayo suggested sarcastically.

"No, I hate you, I hate you all." I said decisevely, turning off my radio and glaring hard at my fries and half eaten burger.

Will chuckled,  
"We both know you're going to go." he said matter of factly.

Huffing I threw my chairback, grumbling about ungrateful little brats as I grabbed my plate and stomped towards the door, knowing that Will was quite right because in my family when someone needed you (for whatever reason) you went to go and help them. That was why I'd be seeing Sam in a little over two months to help settle my baby brother into college.


	18. Chapter 18: Moving In Day

_**A/N: Hey everybody!**_

 _ **Okay so I worked as fast as I could (my exams literally start next week but screw them! You've been waiting long enough! So I got three chapters rewritten for you, ta-dah! Thank you for all the supportive messages after my last authors note, and Dragonpallete your idea was great, but when I say my laptop died I literally cannot turned it on...so I've now stolen my dads for my writing. I've also tried to sort that paragraphing issue you were having OctoberOpal, I hope it worked out better for you. So without furthur ado I give you Revenge of the Fallen, with a little added Ellie Witwicky ;).**_

 _ **Best Wishes,  
JessBubble:D**_

"Ellie!" Sam's excited voice brought tears to my eyes and for the first time in almost two years I pulled Sam into a tight hug.  
"Hey little brother!" I grinned. Little didn't really cut it anymore since he was taller than me by about a foot and looked down on me, but in my mind he would always be the little kid that followed me around and held my screwdriver while I fixed the lightbulbs in the kitchen. The hot and dry California air smelt of home and I inhaled deeply, taking comfort in the familiar scent and the smell of the sun on my brothers' skin. The minute we'd pulled up (because I'd managed to get Jazz some time off to come with me) Bee had sounded his horn, one long and loud salute almost that had been some sort of signal for Sam to come rushing out.

Mikaela had hung back in the doorway but after giving her a grin and calling her over she'd joined in our little group hug with enthusiasm. She'd greeted me cheerfully and held me just as tightly as Sam had and I'd been hit with a rush of overwhelming affection for the girl - I'd be maid of honor at their wedding if it killed me. Jazz had popped open the trunk and I knew it was a silent request for me to get my bags out so he could head into the garage to muck about with Bee. Sam was quick to haul my bags out of the back, letting me animatedly ramble on about work to them both as they listened with awed expressions and pricked ears.

My mother was nowhere to be seen when I walked into the family home but my father was ready and waiting in the kitchen, just finishing his own mug of tea off when I walked in.  
"Hey! Look who's finally come home!" he drawled, voice almost dripping with sarcasm that made me roll my eyes.  
"Don't you start dad." I warned him, "Where's my hug?" Dad rolled his eyes and moved forward to wrap his arms around me, where I could literally hear him counting the Mississipi's before he let go - some things never changed. One other perfect example was my mother.  
"My baby! Oh she's home from the war! Are all those limbs really yours or are you missing some? What about bullet holes? Ellie are you leaking from anywhere? Don't you dare get blood on my carpets!" she rambled as she pulled me into a hug and patted me down like I was in a police investigation.

Rolling my eyes I let her get on with it, knowing she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd looked over every inch of me and ensured that I was bullet hole free.  
"I'm fine mom, I don't go off base so I'm not fighting anyone...besides if I did get shot they wouldn't leave me with a bullet hole, they'd sew it up." I reminded her with half a grin, winking at Sam over her shoulder as he tried to smother his smirk with his hand. Mikaela stood by the door with a knowing smile as mom launched into a tirade about how I was far too skinny. The evening passed with dinner and laughter until I finally managed to sneak away upstairs to my room, giving Sam and Mikaela the excuse they wanted to talk about their autobot friends.

I told them all about the Arcee sisters and Sideswipe, about how Ratchet and I had made a sword for Jazz and the team I worked with were incredible guys. Sensing the conversation was taking a more feminine turn Sam walked out with a roll of his eyes, and then Mikaela pounced.  
"So how's Major Lennox?" she asked with a smirk.  
"It's Lieutenant Colonel now." I amended with a smirk of my own, "And I think he's doing just fine."  
"Sam showed me the emails." Mikaela grinned and I blushed slightly. Shrugging half a shoulder I lounged back on my bed, one leg hanging off the edge and tapping the floor absent mindedly as I tried to play it cool. Mikaela gave me a light shove and puppy dog eyes, "Come on! I want details!" Raising an eyebrow at her I sat up and grinned, suddenly feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl as the words tumbled out of me,  
"It sort of started as harmless flirting you know? I mean we had dinner when he offered me the job and then when I got to NEST he was training me with Epps. It was just playful jabs at each other but it meant something, and then when we refused to say it Jazz and Epps got together to form a real sneaky plan...Jazz kidnapped us until we gave in and decided to have a dinner date and it just went from there. He's amazing Mikaela! He's such a gentleman and _my god_ can the man kiss, and he's just so thoughtful and a great cook and-"

Mikaela had listened with rapt attention, eyes riveted on me as I rambled on and on and I barely had time to take a breath as I started to go on about his Christmas present.  
"You're clearly in love. Have you said it yet?" Mikaela cut me off with a smile that was both knowing and sad. My eyebrows furrowed slightly as I came down from my high and sat up, leaning back against the wall beside her and watching the younger girl carefully. Her question was innocent enough and yet the sadness in her eyes suggested it was a silent plea for some advice rather than an answer.  
"No, we haven't." I said softly, "Then again...we've not been dating as long as you and Sam." the way she looked away told me I'd hit the right spot. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder I dropped my cheek on top of her head, "Sam is an emotionally constipated half-wit, but he does love you. Mikaela no other girls ever made my brother this happy before, he just doesn't know how to show it."

"I feel like a trophy girlfriend." she complained, "He'll kiss me and hug me and say he adores me...whatever that means, but he won't say the word I actually want to hear. It's like we won the war and I was the victory prize."  
"That's not the case, you've been the one he's been pining for for a long time sweetie." I promised her softly, "He won't give you up for anything...you just need to give him time - and before you say it I don't know how much!" I said quickly before she could protest. A smile graced her lips for a split second before she spotted my clock and furrowed her brow. She had to go and I understood why, "Say hi to your dad from me." I grinned. Mikaela rolled her eyes but nodded once, saying a quick goodbye before knocking on Sam's door to announce her departure. I walked to my duffel bag and grabbed a pair of pyjamas, throwing them on and yelling a goodnight downstairs. Three separate voices yelled back 'goodnight' but they did it all in such a similar way it made me laugh.

We hated to admit we were related to each other but we were too similar for us not to be. God I had missed the loons I got to call my family. Once I was settled in bed I checked my clock again - 19:34PM. Diego Garcia was 14 hours ahead so it was about half nine over there. Skyping Will was the part of my day I had been most looking forward to after the joy of being home wore off.  
"Hey! How's it going over there?" Will's cheerful voice greeted me and I smiled when his face popped up on the screen. "The family doing okay?" Nodding my head I grabbed my earphones from the side and plugged them in, throwing a shoe at my bedroom door so it swung closed to give us some privacy.

"They're all okay thanks. My rooms untouched and mom made dad order in Chinese for his favourite little girl." giggling slightly I shook my head, "I think she expected me to come home missing limbs."  
"Well we tried to keep you in one piece." Will joked, "What time is it over there?"  
"About twenty to eight." I answered, "Jet lag is a bitch." Will laughed and hummed in agreement, a comfortable silence settling between us where we could just drink in the image of each other. There was a slight tug in my gut, an uncomfortable feeling in my chest I just couldn't shake and it only grew worse the longer we stared at each other until I finally realised what it was, "I miss you already."  
"I'm missing you to." Will confessed freely with a soft smile, "Know what might make it better though?" My eyebrows furrowed and I shook my head, watching him curiously as that devilish glint entered his eyes, "You could change into your PJ's and let me watch."  
"Will!" I laughed, unable to stop myself from smirking, "You're fifteen minutes too late soldier." Will pouted almost comically and I winked at the screen, "Plenty of time for that when I get home."  
"I'll hold you to it." he said with half a yawn.

Arching an eyebrow I waited patiently for him to yield to my questioning gaze, "We had a pretty rough mission, the guys got banged up but they're okay...we lost some people though." the toll it had taken was obvious on his face now I looked at him. There was a flicker of guilt in his eyes and his jaw was set like stone when he wasn't smiling- I should have noticed how it didn't reach his eyes. "This decepticon left some pretty cryptic clues too...I'll let you know when the autobots have deciphered what it means but be on guard alright? Something's going down but we can't tell what just yet."  
"Okay but...the minute you know something give me a call okay? I'll come back whenever you need me." I promised. Will nodded his head wearily and glanced away from the screen slightly. I frowned, "Will? Get some sleep, things'll be clearer tomorrow...it wasn't your fault." Will gave me a tired smile and nodded once, both of us hesitant to say goodnight. I knew there wasn't much more I could do from here though.  
"Ellie wait." Will said quickly. My heart skipped in my chest slightly and I waited with baited breath, wondering what he was going to say before he finally said, "Tell Sam I said good luck."

Ignoring the disappointed flutter in my chest I nodded once, agreeing I would and saying goodnight before I logged off and put my laptop aside. I wasn't a child, I wasn't going to throw a tantrum because he hadn't said the 'L' word yet, we hadn't been together all that long like I'd said to Mikaela earlier...maybe that was why I had expected the words, because we'd talked about it not five minutes before. The next morning I could have done with hearing some of Will's comforting words. Mom was insufferable, sniffling and crying as we carried Sam's stuff out to the car. Jazz was parked out front so we could shift some of the stuff Sam didn't want our parents to see, which meant I was carrying electronics such as his PSP and gaming keyboard (that he refused to acknowledge he had even though we all knew he was addicted to PC gaming) and a few shirts with some choice phrases on that mother would kill him for looking at, never mind owning.  
"You want me to stop, fine, I'll stop! You carry this shit!" mom wailed, dropping the cases on the floor in front of dad as I glanced over my shoulder from shutting the trunk. "You know what I don't want to go to France with you, I don't even wanna go around the corner with you!" she added when he tried to calm her down.

"Fine, I'll call you from Paris!" Dad retorted in typical dad fashion. Eyes rolling I watched him shove the boxes in the boot of his car and go to grab the cases. Mom had stalked back inside as I handed them to him. "You can't leave me on my own with her." he deadpanned. My eyebrows rose amusedly and I shook my head,  
"You married her dad, that was all you...for better or worse right?" I laughed.  
"Worse, definitely worse." Dad grumbled, struggling with the silver cases for their trip to France as I watched him with an affectionate grin. They were taking a well-deserved holiday to France when Sam was all moved in today and I would be staying the week in a nearby hotel to ensure Sam settled in okay before I went back to Diego Garcia.  
"I got this one, go dad." I chuckled, prying his hands off of the suitcases as he headed back towards the house.

Sam was yelling about something or other inside and I thought maybe mom had said something to him - that was when the grating of metal and booming canon blasts shattered my delusion of a normal life and reminded me I lived with alien robots, and no matter what my mom said it would never earn her a canon to the face...almost never anyway. Eyes widening I dropped the cases to the floor, hearing dad and Sam screaming over the sounds of canon fire, "Jazz stay back!" I called, not wanting him to transform and have to repack all the stuff in the trunk after he got back into his alt mode. Heart jumping into my throat I raced around the side of the house when suddenly Sam's room above me exploded. The wood and debris rained down on my head and I dropped to my stomach, hands covering my head as I let out a cry of panic. My ears were ringing and my skin sizzled as some burning wood hit my forearm.

Scrambling up to my feet I coughed out smoke and ash, flapping my hand in front of my face and stumbling towards the back garden where mom was crying about her hair. "What the hell is going on?" I coughed. Sam looked up at me as I took in the gaping hole in the side of the house, the destroyed dog house for Mojo and - whoa hang on when had we gotten a second dog? The fountain was all cracked and ruined too, spraying water all over the burnt grass as smoke rose into the air. Sam argued Bee back into the garage as I stormed over, ignoring the way mom and dad were shouting to grab his arms and demand the answers I needed. Sam blinked at me in surprise before his eyes wheeled back to the house, still looking shocked and alarmed,  
"Ellie I don't have time to explain okay! Just trust me that this is important right now." he said hurriedly, heading into the house as the wail of sirens grew louder and louder. Jaw dropping I stared at the ruins of my house and quickly pulled out my phone, snapping a photo and heading into the garage to find Bee.

He was crouched in the wooden hut on his knees, blue optics blinking at me sweetly while I narrowed my eyes on him, scolding him for all he was worth like he was a child that had pulled down the blinds.  
" _But...bad robots_!" his radio chirped. My eyebrows furrowed and I motioned for him to elaborate, _"Kid called me...bad robots...all over the house man!"_ He lifted his large hands in a shrug and I felt my frown deepen. Decepticons? How had decepticons gotten into our house? " _Little ones...kitchen appliances_." Bee added.  
"Kitchen appliances? I'm pretty sure we didn't buy an evil toaster." I sighed, rubbing my temples and finding my fingers came back all sooty. "Great, now I need a shower." I complained. Bee held up a large metal finger before reaching to his left and flicking the cap off of - "Oh no Bee wait!" I cried. I was blown backwards by the force of the water that came from the now broken hose tap. Now dripping wet and freezing cold I slowly climbed back to my feet and gasped for air, "Bumblebee!" Dad was struggling to calm down mom outside as I grabbed the monkey wrench nearby and began bashing the end of the tap, throwing as much force behind it as I could so the jet of water hit the floor instead of spraying out into the garden. Bee whirred apologetically and shrugged his huge shoulders.

By now the garden was crawling with cops and firefighters, so I put my finger to my lips to signal for Bee to be quiet and shut the garage door behind me. Mom was holding both dogs in her arms and demanding to know what was going to happen to her house while Dad stood over his fountain.  
"Not again, what do they have against this fountain?" he grumbled, "And stop dripping on my grass!" Jumping slightly I leapt onto the pathway with an exasperated sigh,  
"Maybe I'll put out a fire?" I retorted, heading into the house to see Sam on the phone with something clutched in his hand. I frowned and went to ask but he waved me away as a firefighter walked in - now really wasn't the time and this was clearly alien. I took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the smell of burning and the huge hole in the back of our house before I opened the door to my only half destroyed room. A few ornaments and books had fell down as a result of the explosion and there was a gaping hole in the right wall that showed me a great view of the back garden...one I didn't really want.

Grabbing a fresh change of clothes I snatched a towel from the airing cupboard and used my parent's room to dry off and change into a fresh outfit. Sam hurried in and shut the door behind him, glancing over his shoulder before gripping my shoulders tightly,  
"Okay Ellie this is gonna sound really weird but you need to stay with me okay?" Sam said hurriedly. I watched him carefully, noticing the way his eyes darted from side to side and his grip tightened and loosened in a pattern on my shoulders. "There was a shard of the cube on my jacket and when I touched it it burned me and there were these crazy symbols and it burned the floor and brought all the kitchen appliances to life but Mikaela's going to come and get it and hide it in the shop so you don't have to worry about a thing." he rambled without pausing for breath and I blinked in shock.

Sam had never said such a long sentence before in his life and I'd never heard him talk this fast either, something was definitely off with him but before I could question him on what was wrong he had fled the room towards the sound of Mikaela's bike. Pulling my phone out I went to dial Will's number when a familiar alarm went off - Jazz was desperate for news. Groaning I pocketed my phone and raced back downstairs, climbing in and running my hand along the dashboard.  
" _Hey good lookin', what ya got cookin'_?" the radio sang.  
"Honestly Jazz I think my brother just made decepticons." I answered, shaking my head. "I don't know but something seems off with him and he said something about a shard of the cube."  
" _I'll be watchin' you._ " the radio crooned. Nodding my head I patted the steering wheel,  
"We'll keep an eye on him alright. Let's not report any of this though until we're sure we know what's going on."

Jazz remained silent and I guessed he was uncomfortable about this, but I wouldn't put my brother under scrutiny from NEST unless it was absolutely necessary. I ran my hand over the steering wheel in an effort to reassure him but he still didn't respond.  
"Hey kiddo, get moving, we're shipping out and there's nothing left to pack." Dad said, poking his head through the driver's side window. Eyebrows raising I nodded, placing my hands on the wheel and checking I had my bag with me in the passenger seat before I said,  
"Alright, we'll meet you there then." Dad stepped back and Jazz brought the engine too life. We took off (Jazz must have been in a mood with me because he was letting me drive) and I briefly watched Mikaela's face fall in the rearview mirror when Sam didn't tell her what she wanted to hear.


	19. Chapter 19: The Genuine College Life

Our system was all worked out so all of the stuff I was transporting (Sam's DO NOT LET MOM SEE boxes) would arrive just as my parents finished unpacking. That also meant I had to make a few pit stops though to lose time. All of Will and Epps's hard work in fitness training went down the drain at my first stop, where packets of beef jerky, strawberry laces and various others bags of candy were purchased along with several cans of coke Jazz was keeping on ice for me on the passenger seat as I drove along – my teeth would be rotten within the hour. It also meant I got a nice long lunch break though, I mean, I'm essentially a bottomless pit so I can eat until I die and sometimes even after that. It was a fairly small and insignificant diner off of the highway but it still had good food and (though the music was shitty) the woman working the counter was nice enough. A basket of fries and pulled pork burrito later and I was sipping at a strawberry milkshake under the fan. It was hot here, Diego Garcia kind of hot and I was grateful for the shorts and tank top combo I was wearing today.

There was a pair of fluffy black dice on a small accessories shelf, and a small smirk graced my lips as I pushed the money across the counter for them. Jazz would hate me for glitzing him up a little but dammit it would be worth it to see Will's reaction when I drove up with them next week. Like he knew I was thinking about him (when was I not) his caller ID came up on my phone. Eyebrows raising I answered with a cheery hello.  
"You're not going to sound half as cheery when I'm done with you." He warned, voice hard. My eyebrows furrowed,  
"Will what's wrong?" I asked confusedly. I could hear him pacing over the phone and realised this was serious and quickly took my call outside with a quick wave to the lady who had served me, the last thing I needed was a cleanup operation if she overheard me talking about aliens.  
"You know damn well Ellie! Tell me it isn't true, tell me you didn't break protocol tell me you don't have a piece of the cube in your goddamn house!" he hissed, keeping his voice low. Eyes widening I felt the sting of betrayal wash through me and glared at Jazz through narrowed eyes. How could my buddy do this to me?

I couldn't quite find the words to say, not liking how angry Will sounded with me and how much it hurt me to hear him sound so harsh with me. I felt pathetically weak in that moment, like a scolded little girl who had gotten caught putting the scissors over her brother's shirts...that had happened once...or twice.  
"Will its fine, no harm done." I said finally, running my hand through my hair and pulling it over my right shoulder. Why I had left it down today I didn't quite know, it was a rarity.  
"It's not fine Ellie or are you forgetting the cleanup operation we spent _several months_ enacting?" he snapped, making me cringe. Ahh how could I forget? The rebuilding of Mission City, the huge compensation packets promised to damaged businesses and homes and the bribes to keep the citizens quiet. They'd sat me and Sam in a lock box for a whole twenty four hours to drill into us all the nasty things that would happen to us if we blabbed and alibi's for injuries and such should we be asked how we got them. They'd checked us over though before we left and we'd only had our clothes, they'd made us buy new cell phones since our old ones were full of GPS markers showing we'd been present in the city at the time.

Biting my lip I hesitantly nodded my head, forgetting momentarily he couldn't see me before I cleared my throat and said,  
"Yeah…I remember."  
"So tell me it isn't true!" Will exploded. I almost dropped the phone. He'd never yelled at me like that before, voice raw with fury and anxiety, not even when I'd openly defied him in Mission City. Maybe the heat was boiling my blood, but all I knew was that a hot spike of frustration ran through me and I scoffed,  
"And if I can't? Yes okay? It happened and we dealt with it! The decepticons created are all gone thanks to Bee and we've locked the shard of the cube up safe and sound until I can bring it back with me! What are you going to do Colonel? Make me run drills?" I had sneered the last part and instantly regretted it when a furious Will cursed so loudly I had to pull the phone away slightly. I swallowed thickly and closed my eyes, hated the feeling of my guts twisting and tearing themselves apart inside, hating how weak I felt as Will berated me for what he called stupidity when Sam had kind of given me no choice but to accept what he was saying and trust him.

He didn't stop either and I'd never heard Will more angry than he was right then, and with each word that left his mouth I felt myself growing smaller. A horrible lump grew in my throat and with horror I realised I was about to cry.  
"Shut up!" I finally snapped, "I screwed up okay? I get it! But until you can have a proper conversation with me leave me the fuck alone!" my voice wavered and I hated myself for it as I hung up abruptly. Crossing the car park swiftly I threw the dice I'd bought onto the passenger seat, my phone next to it, and with blurry eyes I slammed the door shut behind me. "You happy Jazz? I asked you not to tell, why did you tell?" I cried, burying my face in my hands and taking shuddering breaths. His words were still ringing in my ears, _idiot, stupid, you fucked up!_ Each word stung worse the more it was repeated and I drew in shuddering breathes to try and stop the tears flowing down my cheeks. I didn't understand how Will could be so angry over something so tiny, so insignificant. Jazz had remained silent but began driving all the same, leaving me to simply rest my hand on the wheel so to anyone looking in I was driving, not crying over my first real right with the guy I loved.

Sam's college campus was pretty nice, with lots of green space and prestigious looking architecture. There was a clock tower with a white spire and hundreds of students milling about as they arrived for their move in week. Mom and dad's car was easy to find (the damn thing didn't win points for style) but the most horrifying thing was what mom appeared to be doing. My eyes widened when I watched her tackle a guy for his frisbee, Sam pretending to tie his shoe in the background as my dad tried to run after her and stop her. Groaning to myself I jumped out of Jazz and sprinted forward, watching my dad pin her to the floor as I got near and hearing her say,  
"Hey professor, I'd do anything for an A." with a manic grin and a giggle that reminded me horribly of Harley Quinn from Batman.  
"Dad what the hell?" I demanded, kneeling beside her and looking at her wide eyes, "Is she high?"  
"She thought it was a bake sale and they were offering 100% green brownies." He huffed, hauling her over his shoulder as Sam picked up her bag for her, botties hanging from his hand as I pinched the bridge of my nose and inhaled deeply.  
"Weed brownies? Seriously? I've had plenty they're not that potent!" I grumbled,  
"We'll discuss that later!" Dad called over his shoulder as Sam stared at me in surprise.

I rolled my eyes and glared at him until he began moving again. Sam shoved moms bag in the back as dad bundled her into the passenger seat and strapped her in. She was squirming and giggling and laughing at Sam as she shouted about his most embarrassing moments, making him blush.  
"Need me to lock your mother in and help you unpack?" dad asked wearily. I could still hear moms muffled laughing the in the car and tilted my head,  
"I think you should get going, fresh air through the window will do her good." I said, "Besides you don't wanna miss your flight." I added. Sam nodded quickly in agreement as dad reluctantly said a gruff goodbye, never one to show emotion. As they drove away mom hung out the window to yell her goodbyes until the last possible moment, not forgetting to add in the all-important tip of not forgetting to wash his undies. Folding my arms I raised an eyebrow,  
"Somehow, you beat my move in day…that is a considerable victory." I said. Sam sighed,  
"Yeah, I got weed brownies and you got threatening the professors on campus."

In silence we headed to Jazz, well aware of the eyes on us as we unpacked his last few boxes and headed for his dorm room, squeezing past a mixture of gangly guys, doll faced girls, hippie kids, punk rockers and nerds. Half of the room was already covered in posters of aliens and hot girls, the typical techie nerd style that thought they had a chance with the type of girls that were way out of their league.  
"Your mother is crazy Samuel!" an unfamiliar voice called and we both turned (Sam's expression going a little sour and eyes rolling skyward to show me what he thought)to see a guy in a reddish- pinky shirt with longish dark hair and dark eyes come striding in. The moment he saw me he stopped, deliberately made a show of checking me out and folded his tanned arms across his chest in an effort to make his pecs look more impressive than the deflated moobs they were. "Well hello there chicá." He tried to sound smooth and crossed the room to kiss my knuckles but I quickly snatched my hand back with a look of disgust,  
"Pleasures all yours until my boyfriend breaks your nose." I retorted, heart stinging at the thought of Will. He hadn't called or text me back since the argument and I had no clue where we currently stood.

Face closed off I folded my own arms and stared him down, watching him shift uncomfortably as Sam chuckled, looking decidedly happy with my reaction before introducing me,  
"Leo this is my sister Ellie, she's in the military. Ellie this is my roommate Leo." Nodding once I didn't bother to question Sam's choice in occupational labels, but Leo remained persistent.  
"Military huh? What branch? You like RAF or marines or…"he trailed off, looking me over again and smiling in what he must have thought was a charming way. I'd seen oil slicks less slimy than that grin.  
"RAF, I'm an aeronautical engineer." I answered curtly, not technically lying. Leo's grin widened and for the next ten minutes I endured the horrendous tour of his tech haven in the back room, feeling more than alarmed when I saw footage of the Shanghai mission on their screens and other various pieces of evidence of the Mission City incidence.

My heart constricted in my chest but I forced my face to remain carefully blank, memorising the web addresses he gave me with a fake promise to check them out before Sam walked me back to my car.  
"You gonna get them shut down?" he asked curiously.  
"I'm gonna send the addresses back to HQ if that's what you mean." I agreed, "Be careful with that guy Sam, he could be trouble...the same goes for some of these girls, remember you've got a girlfriend you love." I gave him half a smirk and his eyes narrowed one me, sensing my heart wasn't in it but not questioning me for now. Pulling me into a tight hug he sighed contentedly. He was getting all he wanted I realised, a good college education the perfect girlfriend waiting for him back home and no more mom to breath down his neck. Squeezing him tightly I inhaled the sun off his skin and patted his back, "Okay ground rules." I said finally with a small smile, "One, get as drunk as you can. Two, limit your drug use to a one off experiment, no brother of mine is going to be a junkie. Three, if you blow all your money in move in week ask me and not mom and dad for some extra until your next pay day. Four, try and get a job somewhere to pay for yourself and five, this is the most important, go to every party you can."  
"You're the fun relative." Sam chuckled, "I love you Ellie."  
"I love you to Sammy, see you for lunch before I leave alright?"

Sam nodded and I drove away without looking back, knowing I'd crack if I did. The hotel was fifteen minutes away and with my new wages I'd gotten myself a fairly nice room, king size bed, plasma TV. The minibar was possibly my favourite part of the room and by eleven I was three bottles of bud deep and a strawberry daiquiri from room service away from being tipsy enough to call Will. I'd left a message before grabbing the alcohol at the tech center for the guys to check out those websites and thought no more of it. I didn't want to think tonight. _Stupid, you fucked up._ Snorting I took a long drag of daiquiri with a grimace. Why had I ordered this instead of my preferred blue Hawaiian? If I couldn't understand that now I was even less comprehending the next morning when I woke up with a gin and tonic bottle beside me on the bed, shamefully staring back at me as I struggled to remember my sinful night with the minibar.

It was about midday when Sam called me and I answered while rubbing my temples, pain killers really did nothing for a hangover.  
"Ellie shut up!" was the first thing he said and I scoffed, charming. "Seriously come here now! It's alien and I need help and-"he was cut off by a crash, the clattering of wooden planks and an explosion that made my eyes widen.  
"I'm on my way." I promised, hanging up quickly and throwing my stuff into my backpack, leaving the money for the minibar and sprinting down the stairs. Backpack beside me in the passenger seat I gunned the engine to life and took off way over the speed limit towards Sam.  
 _"_ _I said hey! What's going on?"_ the radio chirped.  
"Sam called, said something about aliens and then there was an explosion in the background." I retorted shortly, still feeling a little upset with Jazz's betrayal.  
 _"_ _I'd kill for one more day."_ Jazz sang, using an All Time Low song in an effort to calm me down and make me less mad at him.

Expression hardening I patted his dashboard, and chuckled ruefully,  
"Help me save Sam's ass again and I'll forgive you." I promised. Adrenaline pumping through my veins I watched a silver car speed by me…complete with a robot on the hood. Groaning I pulled my hands of the wheel, "180 Jazz!" I ordered. He took over, gas pedal coming up and handbrake going down to spin us around while I braced my palms against the window and roof. We were already speeding back the opposite way as they crashed into a lamp post, the decepticon between them. They began reversing almost immediately after and rolled over the dead thing as we pulled in behind them. Jazz flashed his lights and I waved out of the window, seeing Sam put a thumb in the mirror to acknowledge me. Relaxing back I sighed, hands gripping the wheel tightly, "Well…that's a good show for the speed cameras." I thought aloud. Jazz jerked forward suddenly, gunning his engine a little, his idea of a snort I guessed.

There was a horribly close and familiar sound thought, the air being beaten by chopper blades. Craning my neck I looked up through the window and saw a black military style helicopter come flying over us, shooting a grappling line down into Sam's borrowed car. Eyes widening I cried out in utter frustration, an indignant noise that wasn't really a word but more of a guttural snarl.  
 _"_ _Now we're enemies."_ The radio sang. Eyes rolling I shook my head,  
"No we're not, I may be mad at you but we'll never be enemies Jazz." I said.  
 _"_ _But some of your never learned to drop the act."_ He whirred, _"_ _She's a maniac maniac whoa-o-o-o."_ My eyebrows furrowed, a sense of dread settling in the pit of my stomach as I swallowed thickly,  
"Jazz you're not saying what I think you're saying are you?" I asked uneasily.  
 _"_ _Finally!"_ if a radio could sounded exasperated that was it right there. Their car was jerked off the ground on cue, the door opening and Sam flying out. He barely managed to grip the handle and I screamed, pushing Jazz to go faster so we could catch him if he fell. A black head of hair poked out next and I squinted to see Mikaela reaching for his hand, looking terrified as Sam clung on for dear life. The car rose up higher and higher and the chopper was taking them furthur away by the second.  
"Jazz call back up." I said feeling sick, "We don't know how many there are but we have to get him back."


	20. Chapter 20: The Adventure BeginsAgain

They flew out across the river, a place we couldn't cross. Heart beating loudly in my ears I tried to breathe around the tight band of panic constricting my chest and firmly squeezed the steering wheel.  
 _Don't worry, don't panic!"_ the radio whirred, " _We are family, I got all my sisters with me…sugar!"_ Exhaling sharply I nodded and narrowed my eyes on the road,  
"We still got those weapons in the back?" I asked him.  
" _Don't you go…when we prepare ourselves for war…you're not there."_ The radio clicked between songs rapidly and knew Jazz was desperately trying to dissuade me from getting into the thick of it. I scoffed,  
"I'm not doing nothing while you risk your lives for _my_ brother!" jazz didn't reply and took a sharp right. I couldn't see the chopper anymore, nor the car, but a familiar black and yellow car was pulling up behind me and I relaxed a little more. Behind Bee came the blue and red truck I knew so well, and with Optimus here I felt fearless. "Jazz, when you stop pop the trunk, I'll be the last line of defense outside." I said, knowing it would get me in the battle but keep me far enough away from the action Jazz would be happy. I didn't give a thought about what Will would say if he knew I was preparing to fight deceptions'.

Jazz carried on around to the side of the building as I heard the gears of grinding metal while Bee and Optimus transformed. I scrambled out as soon as he stopped, grabbing a gun from the trunk and loading it with a couple of sabot rounds before slinging the ammo strap across my chest and pulling my hair back into a low hanging ponytail quickly. Jazz was gone by the time I was done, back around the other side while I stared at the abandoned factory in front of me. It was well up on the creepy scale, all grey scale mould and peeling paint, rusted iron and blackened metal with dangling chains and a distinctly Chernobyl feel about the place, abandoned and left to rot as it was. Then the explosions began and the screaming started. The clashing sound of metal on metal, the high pitched popping of guns firing and the grinding of gears working to agilely flip metal bodies all telling me that a brutal fight was occurring inside. I stood at the ready, gun aimed at the exit door should anything other than my brother and friends come through. Plumes of smoke rose from the now shattered roof Optimus had used as his entry point, and glass had shattered exploded outward from windows to litter the floor. A dusty and badly out of breath duo burst out of the door and I recognised Mikaela's scream from a mile off,  
"You two over here!" I bellowed, waving one arm.

Leo was looking paler than before and I almost smirked, unable to help myself as they came to a halt in front of me, panting and doubled over.  
"Can you even use that?" Mikaela asked breathlessly. Snorting I rolled my eyes,  
"I work with the autobots, part of my contract included firearms training." I reminded her before turning to Leo, "How you holding up new blood?" His eyes widened,  
"They're aliens! Huge freakin' aliens!" he squeaked. Geez I'd had a deeper voice when I was six than he currently had. "Aliens!" he repeated as if I hadn't gotten the memo. Nodding I soothingly patted his arm,  
"Well done. You stay with us okay, you'll be fine, we'll get you through this. Mikaela where's Sam?"  
"Aliens!" he cried, pointing over my shoulder. Cursing under my breath I lifted my gun, hearing an engine roar as a tiny bespectacled thing came scuttling towards us.  
"Bee's coming!" Mikaela cried in relief.  
"He won't make it in time!" Leo squealed.  
"He won't need to!" I growled, taking aim and pulling the trigger. I barely jolted anymore when I felt the recoil and the shot hit him square in his tiny metal face.

The shattered remnants of the dinky decepticon smoldered as Bee screeched to a halt in his alt mode in front of us.  
 _"_ _Come on baby get in, just get in just get in, look at the trouble we're in."_ the radio sang. We scrambled in without a second thought and Mikaela pushed me into the driver's seat. Leo was crammed into the back falling headfirst over the front seats, and Mikaela slammed the door shut behind us. Tyres screeching Bee's engine roared as he rocketed away.  
"Bee where's Sam and Jazz?" I demanded to know as my anxiety heightened for the friend I couldn't see.  
 _"_ _He's…helping out a friend ma'am."_ Bee replied through the radio, a symphony of disjointed voices.  
"Optimus took Sam but Megatron went after them, we have to hurry." Mikaela insisted. Taking a breath I nodded and glanced in the mirror to see the factory in flames behind us, a silver Pontiac Solstice coming out through the flames and glistening in the sunlight, leaving one last explosion behind him that consumed the entire place in heat and ash.

Closing my eyes briefly I took a moment to get my thoughts in order. Decepticons were after my brother again and Megatron was back in town…oh jeez.  
"Megatron's back?" I repeated incredulously, "They threw him in the ocean for fuck's sake!"  
"Either way he's back and he's pissed because Sam has these little symbols in his head since he touched the cube and-"  
"Sam has little symbols in his head?" I cut her off, feeling my frustration boil over, "When was anyone going to tell me!" Mikaela scoffed,  
"Yeah well he's been not saying a lot of things right now!" she retorted.  
"I don't have time for your love life issues Mikaela, what does the decepticons want in my brothers head?" I demanded ruthlessly. Mikaela almost shrank back and I regretted my words immediately as Bee continued to screech down some sort of backroad carriageway, the place was surrounded by green trees and rolling landscapes but I didn't have it in me to admire the beauty just yet.

Smoke was rising up into the sky ahead of us and I swallowed thickly, patting Bee's steering wheel to go faster. Up until this point I'd done well to drown out Leo's rambling in the background but it was suddenly impossible to ignore.  
"Would you shut up?" Mikaela snapped before I could. Pursing my lips I squinted at the mirror and let out a breathy laugh,  
"Mikaela look, look! It's Sideswipe and Ironhide and the twins! It's okay, we're all gonna be okay!" I said, relief saturating my tone. Then we entered the bumpy woodland, except the woodland had been cleared. Grass and swatted aside tree trunks were smoking, burnt patches of vegetation sending ash and smoke into the air and the smell of burning metal made the bile rise up in the back of my throat, but what made that bile burn was seeing Sam running for his life away from Optimus. Optimus wasn't following him. Optimus wasn't moving….his optics weren't glowing either.  
"Bumblebee get them out of here!" Ironhide's booming voice ordered.  
"Wait! Bee Optimus is still-"I cut off biting my lip, seeing Sam's distraught expression. I knew what it meant.

I struggled to suck enough air into my lugs as a terrible silence consumed us, heavy and enough to make my shoulders ache. Without thinking I pulled out my phone and began to type, the words moving out through my thumbs automatically: **Optimus is dead, he died for us. Thought you should know. Have to destroy this, you were right…I fucked up with the cube. Bye.** Without really thinking about it I sent it to Will, biting my lip and opening the window before dropping it right under Bee's tyres. The sound of the screen cracking seemed poignant almost, as I felt my heart shatter with the screen. The tears I'd been trying to hide spilled over and I turned my face towards the window so they wouldn't see. I had to be strong now, but if I was honest I wanted Will. He always knew what to do in times like this, how to carry one when there was a man down. I wasn't a ground soldier, I was an engineer, and what did I know about warfare really? How did I protect these guys now without anyone to guide me? The grief was almost too much, but when I closed my eyes I could see him in my mind, all the times Optimus had told me I was brave, that he trusted me. Placing my hand on Bee's wheel I rubbed it soothingly, knowing he would be hurting too. My hand went to the locket I hadn't taken off since Christmas day, the locket from Will. Squeezing it tightly I drew in a deep breath and wiped my eyes before trying to follow his example, drawing my strength from his presence in the locket,  
"Bee get us somewhere off the grid, we need to hide." I said quietly.

Sam shared a long look with him and I tried to give him a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. We set ourselves up far away, in an abandoned little settlement of sorts. I couldn't tell if we were even in the same state anymore I was so out of it. Bee had flicked on the radio and we listened to the reports as they came in. Casualties at 7000 worldwide and still climbing, an aircraft carrier sunk and the airforce at the highest threat level since 9/11, a worldwide satellite hacking that broadcast Sam's name to globe in the hopes that a human would hand him in, and a human would if they saw him. By nature we're a selfish race, in the hopes of preserving our own life we would throw those who were being persecuted to the enemy to ensure we could continue to live, but not my brother, not my Sammy. Jazz had arrived not too long after and since we'd arrived I had laid across the front seats, curled up and staring blankly at the dashboard as we mourned together in silence. The sun was setting outside burning the sky a bright orange, as orange as the flames that burned inside me, a mixture of anger and a need for revenge fueling it better than any oxygen could have done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur. We didn't have dinner, we didn't really talk. Leo had remained silent, being watched carefully by the twins. Skids and Mudflap had said a hello I had half-heartedly reciprocated but other than that no one had spoken. Optimus was dead and the knowledge was burdening us all. Mikaela sat by the fire beside me and I swallowed thickly, taking her hand and squeezing it,  
"I'm sorry for shouting earlier." My voice was quiet, barely audible over the crackling of the flames, but the orange glow was somehow comforting despite the destruction fire had caused so far today.  
"No apology needed." Mikaela said. Sam came wandering through the darkness towards us and I watched Mikaela embrace him. They were so close to kissing and I felt my heart twist. Will. The air craft carrier, the military alert…had he even gotten my message? Why had I just said bye? What lame ass text was that to send to the man I loved? He probably knew what was happening by now, knew I was a fugitive as Leo had so kindly explained when we destroyed his traceable phone. The CIA, the FBI, all of them and more were looking for us, just because the decepticons wanted Sam. Did Will believe them? Were they making him hunt me down?

Shaking the thoughts away I watched Sam approach Bee and apologise quietly. Bee whirred in response as Sam continued to say words that shocked me to the core and made my blood run cold,  
"It's my fault he's dead. He came back to protect me and he died." Sam was blaming himself, he couldn't it wasn't his fault! "But I'm gonna make it right, I'm gonna turn myself in."  
" _But we gotta stick together!"_ the radio sounded panicked as Bee turned back into his alt mode and I gasped.  
"You're not gonna do that." Mikaela declared, huffing and sitting back in an abandoned chair she'd taken a liking to.  
"Damn right you're not!" I snapped, eyes blazing as he met my gaze calmly. Suddenly, his attention was pulled to the twins and he yanked up his sleeve, showing them a black smudge like mark I vaguely recognised.  
"Can you read this?" Sam demanded. The twins wer glancing at one another, muttering back and forth and shaking their heads,  
"It's old school Cybertronian Sam, Optimus was teaching me to read it." My quiet confession stunned him into silence for a moment before he nodded slowly.  
"Well if you guys can't read it then let's find someone who can." He said decisively.

When had my little brother grown up enough to become a leader? When had I failed in being one? I'd failed in a lot of things recently considering he was now the FBI's most wanted. I'd forgotten in amidst of the chaos of the day that Sam had these crazy symbols floating around his head, so it was the next question out of my mouth. Mikaela grimaced,  
"Sorry, I forgot to tell you." I waved her off and focused on Sam who shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal,  
"I touched that shard of the cube that destroyed our house and it shocked me sort of, put all these crazy symbols in my head. Megatron kept saying it was a map to an energon source here on Earth." He informed me.  
"An energon source?" I repeated, whistling lowly, "Imagine the destruction they'd cause with that." Sam nodded slowly and we lapsed back into silence before I headed for Jazz with a quiet goodnight, lying down on the front seat with my backpack under my head.  
"Jazz?" I whispered. His dashboard lit up in response, "I'm not mad at you anymore." Life was too short to stay mad at the people you loved I realised. The radio whirred and slow, soft music filled the car, lulling me into a restless sleep haunted by the sound of metal on metal and dying blue eyes.

Will's Point of View:

"Will man, you're gonna wanna sit down for this one." Epps said quietly. We'd been shipped back to Diego Garcia and were sat to await orders in our quarters. The base was eerily silent since our shut down but for once I didn't mind it.  
"What could possibly be worse than what's happened so far today?" I asked wearily. Optimus was gone, dropped unceremoniously onto the tarmac for us to take home as we were disbanded like a bunch of boy scouts. Epps sat beside me on the couch and placed the laptop between us, hitting play. It was a directive from the FBI, and the pictures that came up were all too familiar. Samuel James Witwicky, Mikaela Katherine Barnes, and Eliana Janelle Witwicky, all were the FBI's most wanted. My breath caught in my throat as I snatched up my phone, spotting the message. **You were right…I fucked up. Bye.** The words made my blood run cold and I desperately dialed her number, feeling the icy fingers of terror grip my spine and straighten it out until I was forced to stand and pace the room.

It went straight to voicemail, and by the fifth try that stupid automated voice was telling me that that number no longer existed.  
"She won't pick up, she destroyed her phone like she said she would, dammit Epps we have no way of contacting her!" I growled, throwing the damn thing at the wall where it shattered and hit the carpet.  
"Easy man! She's smart, if she destroyed it she knew they were coming and is already ten steps ahead." He said soothingly.  
"Ten is never enough, they'll have Interpol all over this shit!" I retorted.  
"Then she'll be twenty ahead!" Epps barked, pushing me into the sofa, "She's smart and we taught her well, she's got Jazz and Bumblebee and the twins are with them now too…they'll be safe." He insisted. Taking a deep breath I ran my hands over my face, the guilt eating me alive from the inside.  
"The last thing I said to her was you're a fucking idiot." I laughed bitterly, without humor. Epps's expression softened, "There was shard of the cube on Sam's jacket or something I guess, either way they managed to take a piece home…made little decepticons with it so that's why Optimus went over there."

More guilt. Optimus would still be here if I hadn't been selfish enough to send him to watch over. I had never sent him to spy on Sam, simply to make sure they were safe, I wanted nothing more than for her to be safe.  
"You can apologise when you see her." Epps said finally, "because this will sort itself out, they'll have a plan, they have to." I wanted to share his hope but this was so much bigger than us. I hadn't meant it, any of it, I'd just been so angry that she'd put herself in danger like that. It had nothing to do with the damn cleanup operation going to waste, fuck that shit, I couldn't give a damn about that, no it was the fact she'd just casually said she'd handled it when there had been decepticons crawling around her house! Epps was right, it was what we'd trained her for, but it didn't make it easier that I was envisioning Megatron size kitchen appliances. Head in my hands I exhaled sharply,  
"I told her she was stupid man, what boyfriend does that. I didn't even say goodbye properly."  
"You won't need to." Epps said resolutely. I gave him half a smile,  
"I hope so…I need to find that woman and tell her I love her." I groaned. And there it was, my new mission.

Make Ellie Witwicky know how much I loved her.

The infuriating little bitch.


	21. Chapter 21: Old Friends

Ellie's Point of View:

I'd always wanted to travel the world but I'd never really had enough money to do so. There had been holidays (though mostly I blocked them from my memory because mom had done something or other to make me not want to remember them) and that small mini break Cordelia's fiancée had paid for during the break between our second and third year to Ibiza...not that my parents knew about that one. I'd had plans to travel during a gap year away from college but had never gotten around to it, finding myself to immersed in my course and studies and unable to see myself having no permanent home for a year. This wasn't my idea of travel to be honest. We were the most wanted, our faces known on every TV screen and plastered over the worldwide web. Having to hide my face was not something I liked and was not getting used to easily, Sam however was the most in danger and so had gone all out...by all out I meant a cap on his head. He wasn't cool enough for a cap but hey-ho, needs must. My hand kept drifting to my empty pocket, reaching for a phone that wasn't there in desperation for a text that wouldn't come. My phone had been crushed under the tyres of an autobot and with it all my hopes of contacting Will.

I hated being so dependent on his voice, on his words, I was desperate to hear him just to get me through these next few hours, hear him form some sort of plan in that soothing voice that always told me things were going to be okay. Hell, I just needed his presence to calm me. He had this aura of authority, one that screamed of confidence, one that said _I know what to do_. Clearly I didn't, because Sam was parking outside a rundown looking deli shop in god knows where, and I didn't know because I'd fell asleep in the car! I needed to be on the ball dammit! The sign read Cappuccio and Simmons, and alarm bells began ringing in my head.  
"Who is this guy again?" I asked Mikaela as Leo headed in to check if the coast was clear. The yellow and red cap on Sam's head was covering his face but I couldn't refrain from tugging it down over his eyes teasingly, making him reset it with a scowl.  
"Robowarrior, that nerdy geek alien guy Leo's rivalling with on the web." Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes. My eyebrows furrowed slightly, the words _Simmons_ and _alien_ not sitting well in the same sentence for me. The deli was small, a corner shop cramped into a city of skyscrapers, brick and metal. People were queuing inside though so it must have been popular. Tiptoeing, I looked through the window and felt my eyes go wide,  
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I groaned. Sam and Mikaela exchanged glances as Leo walked up to the counter and I took a deep breath before heading in after him. My lucky wasn't getting much better anytime soon clearly.

Leo excitedly began pointing him out, looking particularly proud of himself as Sam walked in and repeated my earlier sentiments,  
"You've gotta be kidding me." his expression was one of pure disbelief as I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest. The deli smelled something horrible and the fluorescent white lighting was hurting my eyes. Simmons stared at Sam looking equally as shocked before he glared at me slightly and began hustling everybody out. A swarm of pissed off customers were herded to the door and Simmons, white uniform and all, came to a standstill before us as Leo asked if we knew him.  
"Old friends." me and Sam quipped together.  
"Old friends?" Simmons scoffed and I pinched the bridge of my nose as he began listing the things we'd done to him, "No more security clearance, no retirement all because of you and your criminal girlfriend, look at her now, so mature." I flew it him before he'd even finished the sentence, shoving him against the counter and narrowing my eyes on him,  
"Don't start okay? We're up shit creek without a paddle and you're gonna help us, end of, no snippy comments, no muttering under your breath, no nothing, just, help." I growled. God I forgot how much I hated this guy. Simmons shoved me back, the tension rippling between us in waves as a squat woman I assumed was his mother (she was ugly enough) came out complaining about fish.

There were two more men behind the counter, one smashing a mallet over meat with very goofy looking teeth was just simply staring at the little woman, and Simmons's snapped.  
"You don't get christmas bonuses standing around! You want those new teeth you saw on Sky Mall?" he demanded.  
"It's my dream!" the man snapped, slamming his mallet down again with wide eyes.  
"Then go help her." Simmons growled, looking frustrated. Acid boiled in my stomach and I clenched my fists to keep from losing my temper. Why was anything involving this guy never easy?  
"They got your face plastered all over the news alien boy." Simmons said, waving his arms theatrically before declaring he wanted nothing to do with us and beginning to walk away. Sam was clearly getting desperate while I wrinkled my nose against the smell in the place, watching him go after nasally little Simmons,  
"I had a little crab alien plunge something into the soft tissues of my brain and start projecting images like a freakin' home movie, on top of that I'm a wanted fugitive-"  
"Er, we, we are wanted fugitives." I chipped in. Sam nodded once,  
"We are wanted fugitives." he amended, "So you think you got it rough!" Simmons blinked, looking at him dumbfoundedly before his eyes narrowed on him,  
"Projected images you say?" he asked thoughtfully. Sam nodded and Simmons jumped into action, throwing his thumb over his shoulder and saying "To the meat locker!"

I groaned and forced myself to follow, staring at the back of Simmons head disgustedly. Already he had begun to take over, already he was pretending to be the oracle of knowledge and my god did it piss me off. _He_ pissed me off. There were dead pigs hanging from hooks in here and I almost gagged, trying to ignore the sad looking trotters sitting in the corner where they'd been discarded after being cut off. Bile rose in the back of my throat but I pushed it away, my stomach churning and the smell making my nausea worse.  
"Dead pigs...yuck." Mikaela complained.  
"What you are about to see is top secret." Simmons said firmly, eyes glancing between each and every one of us as he knelt down and gripped the handles of a vault in the floor, "Do not tell my mother." He threw open the metal trapdoor and descended down a set of stairs as Leo whined about swine flu behind me. I motioned for him to go first and wrinkled my nose,  
"It's freezing in here, so the bacteria can't breed." I assured him. It was warmer down below but the room was cramped. It was like he had a whole underground home back here with files and boxes full of no doubt national security level documents stacked from floor to ceiling. A television was whirring in the background but I paid it no mind and Simmons hunted for files. The room smelled musty, looked old, and I sat on the steps to avoid getting in the way. I was unable to pay attention as he waffled on, his voice irritating my ears while I stared at the files and wondered if they knew he'd taken all of this from Sector Seven.

Will would have had it all confiscated. A small sigh escaped me as my mind wondered back to the man I was missing more than anything. I could almost see his face, imagine his reaction when I told him Simmons was the one who we had to go to get some help - if I got to tell him. Shaking the thoughts away I tried to focus on what Simmons was saying, spotting the photographs on the table and the projection of an Egyptian building with the glyphs scrawled on the side.  
"Shot in 1932." Simmons declared, "These the same symbols you're seeing in your head?" Sam nodded and my stomach flipped. Symbols in his head, how had I let that happen to my little brother? "How did they end up drawing the same symbols?" Simmons asked animatedly, in his element I imagined, "Aliens!" he pointed at Sam for dramatic effect and I rolled my eyes. "Project Blackknife, aliens in disguise, we detected radioactivity all across the country, "I pleaded, on my knees to get S7 to check them out, but they said the readings were miniscule and I was obsessed. Me! Can you imagine that?" he demanded, looking slightly traumatized.  
"Yes." I snorted, shaking my head and pushing to my feet to get a closer look at the images. All of the older photographs kind of made my skin crawl. How long had they really been here?

Simmons shot me a withering glare but ignored my input and instead focused back on Sam, who was looking only slightly perturbed.  
"Megatron said that there was another energon source here, one Earth." Sam explained as I frowned and Simmons repeated his words like a parrot. I gave him a slap upside the head to shut him up. Leo smirked at me and I rolled my eyes in reply as Sam carried on, "He said these symbols would act like a map to lead me to it." If the deception's got their first...I didn't even want to imagine what they would do. Earth as we knew it would be gone, the world destroyed in metal and fire and no Optimus to stop it. My heart clenched painfully and I tried to ignore the grief welling in my chest.  
"Did you talk to your autobot friends about this?" Simmons asked.  
"No whatever this is it precedes them, it predates the autobots." Sam replied with a shake of his head.  
"Then we'd need to speak to a decepticon, but I'm not exactly on speaking terms with one." Simmons said, looking a little disheartened. Oh no, he didn't think he was coming with us on this did he because I swear-  
"Actually, I am." Mikaela said, and my head snapped up in shock.

She and Sam fled the room, leaving Leo Simmons and myself alone. Simmons gave me a nod,  
"Miss Witwicky." he said coldly. My eyebrows rose,  
"Simmons." I returned, refusing to let him get to me. Leo shrunk back from the tension rippling between us.  
"Still running around with the aliens I see, how's your little boyfriend?" he sneered. My heart twisted at the thought of Will and my sour expression made him smirk, he knew he'd hit a nerve, "Oh dear." he chuckled.  
"I work for NEST, you know, the people that replaced you? Don't make me get them down here to confiscate all this." I threatened, seeing his face go pale,  
"You wouldn't dare." he snarled.  
"Oh but I would! So I suggest you keep your mouth shut and, as much as it pains me to say it, _help_ us...or I might just forego the confiscating part and torch it all." I promised, the dark undercurrent in my voice making him shudder.  
"You drive a hard bargain." he grumbled.  
"I just don't like you." I returned, huffing and turning my face away.  
"Ditto kid." he mumbled.

Sam and Mikaela came back with a large metal box and a little blowtorch in hand. She barely warned us before opening up the lid and letting the contents loose. It lunged for us and I yanked Sam backwards in shock, jaw dropping and heart pounding ferociously as Mikaela yanked on the chain around it and held the blowtorch close to his face,  
"Hey! Behave!" she snapped at it when it struggled as Sam disbelievingly asked her if she was training it. "I'm trying to." she said, sounding slightly put out by her lack of progress. However the little decepticon backed down and fell still, shaking the chain like it couldn't quite believe it was attached. It looked like it had once been an RC car before it had transformed.  
"I spent my whole adult life combing the planet, looking for aliens, and you're carrying one around in your purse like a chihuahua." Simmons said under his breath.  
"Trust me, it's cuter than a chihuahua." I grumbled, thinking of the time Mojo had once ripped my curtains as a puppy.  
"You wanna throw down pubic head?" the little decepticon demanded. He was a lot like Jazz really in the way he spoke, but his eyes were red and clearly evil...well the one was anyway as the other seemed to have exploded.  
"Hey, hey I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about your eye." Mikaela said softly like she was talking to a child, "But if you're a good boy I'm not gonna torch your other one, okay? I'm not gonna torch it just tell me what these symbols are, please?"

The decepticon grumbled slightly, looking down at the images under his feet before getting down on one knee to touch the image,  
"Oh I know that that's the language of the primes. Yeah, where the frick did you get photos of these guys? They're the oldest of the old been here for thousands of years, looking for _something_." the little decepticon said. My eyebrows furrowed. So they'd been here looking for the energon source too? How had we never noticed! "I don't know what, nobody tells me nothing but they'll translate those symbols for ya, and I know where to find them." he added.  
"Show us." Simmons and I commanded together, shooting each other a glare as we tried to battle out who was in charge here with a single look. The decepticon wheeled around and little green lasers shot out to pinpoint places on the map behind us. I followed the beams with my eyes,  
"It says ones in Washington." I thought aloud.  
"The Smithsonian air museum." Simmons said confidently. My eyes wheeled between the three tens and the man I despised, heaving a sigh from my lips as my limbs suddenly became tired and heavy,  
"So...we're breaking into the Smithsonian?" I guessed. Simmons gave me an unimpressed look as Leo swallowed nervously. "Great well...to the autobots!" I declared with fake enthusiasm, jerking a thumb over my arm as Simmons had done earlier. Not only was I wanted fugitive but I could now add breaking and entering to the list...great...Will was going to kill me.


	22. Chapter 22: The Senile Robot

**_A/N: Hey Guys! Thank you for all the great reviews since I started updating again! I've got time off now I've done my exams so I'm trying to update more often._** **0netflixme0** **,** ** _thanks for such high praise! I try to follow the storyline while adding my own twists here and there and I'm glad it's working for you._** **Pyra Sanada** ** _and_** **Angel4EverLostInLife** ** _here's the next part to the story, I hope it was worth the wait.  
Best Wishes,  
JessBubble_**

The Smithsonian.

The goddamn Smithsonian!

I'd been here on school trips. This place had partially inspired my love of aeronautical engineering, it was why I had taken it as a bit of an added extra with my degree. I was about to break into one of my favourite places from childhood! Shaking my head I sighed to myself, running my hand over Jazz's steering wheel.  
 _"_ _What's up…sugar?"_ the radio clicked between channels and I leaned my head back against the headrest, biting my lip.  
"I'm no master criminal Jazz, I don't feel comfortable doing this." I confessed, "I know we have to but this…this is…this is for Sam."  
 _"_ _Hey brother…blood is thicker."_ He sang. Humming in agreement I patted the dashboard. He was right of course, Sam was my brother and I knew I'd do this for him. Seeing symbols in his head, being hunted by decepticon, this was not the life I wanted for him. The more I thought about it the more I wanted my brother away from all of this. He should have been able to go to college, live his own life, become his own man, not the man the autobots needed him to be. I loved them both dearly and knew Bee was a vital part of Sam's life, but this was dangerous! Optimus was dead and without him did we really stand a chance against a pissed off resurrected Megatron? All these worries were crowding my brain but there wasn't enough room for them all, my head felt ready to explode and a migraine was beginning to ache behind my eyes.

I'd changed in the back of Jazz on the way here, pulling on a fresh pair of grey skinny jeans and a thin white tank top underneath a black crochet top. My trusty boots were back on my feet and my hair had been pulled back into a low hanging bun to stay out of the way. Sunglasses on I stepped out of the car and looked at the imposing building before me. For once in my life I was afraid to enter. We'd parked across the road and Sam, Mikaela, Leo and Simmons (now dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt I swore his mother had picked) climbed out of Bee. Simmons pulled out a pair of binoculars but I couldn't quite understand why, it's not like it's a tiny building for god's sake! It was fairly wide rather than tall, a white cylinder on the right stretching into boxes of glass on the left, the sharp angles and reflective surfaces making it almost glisten in the late evening sun. It was just starting to set, the sky having turned not completely orange but starting to burn a little.  
"The Smithsonian air and space museum." Simmons declared like we didn't already know what it was, "The land of dreams in there…all I ever wanted to be was an astronaut." My eyebrows rose,  
"Nut job who spent his life looking for aliens is close enough right?" I quipped. Turning to me with a sour glare he roughly shoved his binoculars at me while Mikaela stifled a giggle. Unfortunately he then proceeded to rip his pants off….well his tightie whities were better than the boxer shorts I remembered. Still though. "My eyes!" I moaned. Ewww I was looking at hairy legs and a saggy ass! Put it away put it away!  
"What is that?" Sam asked with a groan.  
"I wear them when I'm in a funk." Simmons replied, turning to grab some more clothes from the back of Bee.

Sighing slightly I turned my head and looked away, banging my forehead off of Jazz's roof to try and knock the image out of my brain. Nope…didn't work. When I turned around he'd suddenly become dressed like a janitor.  
"Are you planning to sweep us in the back door?" I asked sarcastically.  
"Watches synchronized! If you get caught demand an attorney and don't ever say my name. Here, take one of these pills and slip it under your tongue." He barreled on and ignored me as Sam looked over the bottle. My eyebrows rose slightly and I shook my head. We'd planned this a thousand times to perfection, we did NOT need suicide pills! Snatching them from my brother's hand I tossed them in through Jazz's open window. Between my knowledge of the place from various visits and Simmons' ability to hack into blueprints we'd got a fool proof plan. Didn't mean my heart wasn't pounding like a gorilla caught in a cage. Pulling out a taser he flicked it on, the clicking and crackling of electricity making Leo jump back,  
"Whoa hold on! I can't do this, guards have guns I don't wanna die!" he said panickedly. Simmons did look kind of threatening with a taser in his hand as he rounded on him, bumping chests with the poor kid and getting in his face.  
"Kid kid kid!" he growled, bumping him back until he was pressed against one of the twins with nowhere to go, "You compromise this mission you are dead to me, you understand? Look into my eyes, now tighten that sphincter."

Wrinkling my nose I watched him turn and lead the way, marching along the tarmac of the car park like he was king of the world. Moving over to Leo I squeezed his arm,  
"We'll get him back." I promised. Leo swallowed thickly,  
"Man are we seriously doing this?" he demanded.  
"If you want to not spend the next few years of your life in a CIA cell being water boarded then yes." I replied, clapping his shoulder and motioning for him to go first. Leo was with me since he was most likely to fuck it up. A single guard stood by the information desk, it was his main area, and once that was clear we could freeze the cameras. I waited patiently, hiding behind the door to the toilets as Leo built himself up in the mirror.  
"You're an animal, a mother fucking animal." He told himself, "You got this." My eyes widened as he dropped his trousers and…oh for the love of – why is he taking off his boxers too!  
"Leo!" I hissed covering my eyes. What is it with men and getting naked today? The only guy I ever wanted to see naked was currently at Diego Garcia and probably worried sick. It'd been just over 48 hours now since I sent him that stupid text and the guilt still weighed heavily on me.  
"Yo pape!" he called, and I watched in horror as he walked right out and told the guard he had the shits essentially. Face palming I groaned quietly, tensing up and waiting to make my move.  
"You should be ashamed of yourself sir." The guard said, walking in and looking much much taller than I thought he was going to be. I slipped out behind him and saw Simmons take down a guard not too far up. I walked calmly to the desk and tapped on the keys lightly, freezing the cameras in the place and heading back to the toilets to find Leo.

We'd come in the last half an hour before the museum closed so now there were only guards around, and Sam and Mikaela should have been well hidden in the plane. Pushing open the door my eyes widened. I could faintly smell burning flesh and that horrible soapy detergent they used as I inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of my nose, that migraine beginning to make itself known.  
"Leo, what the hell happened?" I asked as Simmons ran in, looking as disbelieving as I was. Leo lay diagnoally across the guards legs, taser still clutched in his hand pants around his ankles as the pair of them twitched.  
"How many times can you get tased in the nuts before you can't have kids?" he asked, voice jumping up and down in pitch and volume as his body convulsed. Will would have been embarrassed by the lack of skill displayed in this room right now. Walking swiftly over to the guard I shoved my foot in his face, knocking him out cold before turning on my heel and striding for the door.  
"This is all you S7." I said, patting Simmons on the shoulder as I passed him.  
"Hang on a minute you're the one that-"  
"Have fun pulling his pants up!" I called over my shoulder before shutting the door between us. Trying not to groan I headed for the big white hangar where we'd left Sam and Mikaela. Heart beating hard in my chest I clenched and unclenched my sweaty palms, taking the beauty of the space craft and air craft surrounding me as I walked. I had wanted to build something that would end up here one day, a great feat of engineering everyone would have heard of even if only in passing. Guess that dream was shattered now.

Seeing my brother I broke into a jog, watching Mikaela place her metal case down and begin to unlock it. Simmons came running in demanding they hurry up as Sam pulled out the shard of the cube with some tweezers.  
"Okay so now we find a cybertronian amongst all of this lot." I thought aloud.  
"Be good." Mikaela warned the little decepticon.  
"I'm claustrophobic." He gasped, landing on the floor with a little clank. He took a look around as Simmons wandered off with his energon detector, and then the real hunt began. Sam held the shard up towards the air craft hanging from the ceiling and crowding the sides of the walkway. It smelled like old metal and oil in here and I felt at home, walking with ease around the planes and following the little decepticon with keen eyes to ensure he didn't pull anything on us. The little blue monster truck suddenly began speeding forward and Mikaela broke into a sprint, pushing Sam along with her,  
"Follow him he knows where he's going." She panted. Running after him I reluctantly called Simmons and motioned for him to follow, he began running across the way and we met up at the end of the aisle in front of a large black jet.  
"You getting that too?" Simmons asked as his detector beeped. Sam nodded once as the little decepticon transformed,  
"Yo there he is! This guy's a legend! Like chairman of the board! Freshman, point the shard, and watch the magic happen." His gravelly little voice sounded almost excited and I watched with narrowed eyes.

My stomach twisted anxiously and I prayed this was the answer we'd been looking for.  
"What kind of plane is that?" Mikaela asked me quietly as Sam ducked under the barrier to do as he was told.  
"A Blackbird Jet." I answered, "They've not been in use for a while, hence why it's here." Mikaela nodded slightly, watching nervously. With a reassuring smile I slipped my hand in hers and squeezed lightly. We both wanted Sam to be okay but I could see the doubt in her eyes, she didn't know if we could get through this. I swore then and there we would, even if it took my last breath, I would get this kids home again. She squeezed my hand back and moved closer to be by Sam, and I wished Will were here once more. Dammit Ellie no! I had never been reliant on any man before and didn't plan on starting now! The shard flew towards the jet, almost like it was magnetized to it and the blue wave of energon travelled over the exterior. With a loud crack it began to transform and Mikaela scrambled underneath to get a good look at it.  
"Oh shit, it's a decepticon!" she yelled the warning and Simmons eyes went wide, the fear in them still amusing me despite the fact my heart had just stopped.  
"Find cover!" I barked, seeing Leo had miraculously appeared beside me and dragging him towards the plan not too far away. Sam leapt over the barrier as the deception groaned to life. It was whining like an old man, joints cracking like ancient bones as it did the worm and then arched upwards. It was fairly tall and had to pry its helmet back to see anything out of its red eyes. My eyebrows furrowed slightly, he looked old even for a robot, was that a beard?

He looked around briefly and his optics seemed to glow a little brighter, indignant rage colouring his tone,  
"What sort of pathetic mausoleum is this!" he demanded, "Answer me!" Was that a walking stick too? Yeah, the metal parts had transformed into a walking stick! Well…that made him seem far less threatening didn't it? Sam slowly crawled out from under the plane we were hidden under. Heart lurching in my chest I followed him as I so often did, feeling Leo tug me back and hearing him gulp. I simply dragged him out with me. We moved slowly, trying to show it we were no threaten as he rambled about spinal cord based lifeforms. Well that's a new term for human I suppose. You're a disgrace of a spinal cord based lifeform! Huh, works as a great insult! Folding my arms over my chest I watched him suspiciously, "Glory to the empire!" he yelled, almost falling over when he threw up his arms and the walking stick left the floor.  
"I'm telling you this guy did not age well." The little decepticon mumbled. I nodded in agreement,  
"I don't think he's going to hurt us." I said. Sam shared a look with me as the big old robot lumbered to the hangar doors.  
"Fire!" he cried, "I said fire!" It was like he farted a missile. It came flying back towards us and I leapt out of the way with a scream to avoid begin swept off of my feet. Simmons smirked down at me and offered me a hand up, which I pointedly ignored and climbed to my feet with a huff before we followed the old coot out of the doors he'd shouldered open.  
"So you're an athletic kind of girl huh?" Leo asked as we jogged along onto the field beyond. I glared at him slightly and gave him a hard shove, knocking him into the barrier with a wicked grin and leaving him behind.

The poor old thing was muttering about being on a mission as Sam tried to get him to stop and talk to him. Bumblebee and Jazz skidded to a halt to try and block his way out as we ran through the field of military air craft carriers. I recognised some but not all of them.  
"Oh the museum is going to be mad, very very mad!" Simmons said as he glanced back over his shoulder. I refused to look at how much history we'd damaged and cringed as the old robot broke off more plane wings in an effort to turn and face my little brother.  
"What planet am I on?" he demanded.  
"Earth." Sam answered, looking slightly confused and unsure of what to say as the old robot knelt down to get a good look at him.  
"Earth? What a terrible name for a planet. Might as well call it dirt, planet, dirt." He accentuated each word as oil slipped from between his lips like dribble. Had we managed to pick the only senile robot out there? Just our luck! He was losing oil and pressure if they steam pumping out of his knees when he moved was anything to go by. His parts were so rusted they were breaking off with his movements. Maybe if I offered to fix him up a little he'd…wait, I had no tools. Great. "Is the civil war still going on? Who's winning?" he asked suddenly.  
"The decepticons." Sam answered solemnly.

The old robot spat on the floor, a large glob of oil that shimmered in the sunlight. We were squinting up at him as the sun set, the sky turning more yellow now than blue. We'd taken less time than I'd thought we would.  
"Well I changed sides." The robot declared, standing up again and leaning on his stick. At Sam's incredulous repetition he scoffed, "It's a decision, an intensely personal decision." He drawled, sarcasm dripping from his words.  
"You mean you don't have to work for those god awful decepticons?" our little race car asked. My eyebrows rose a little as the old robot scoffed,  
"If the decepticons had their way they'd destroy the whole damn universe." Well yeah we guessed that much! I nudged Sam in the ribs, prompting him to start getting answers instead of giving them and moved over to Leo with a glance at Simmons awestruck face.  
"You still got that taser?" I mumbled. Leo frowned but slowly nodded, and I grinned a little and held out my palm to accept it.  
"Names wheelie, say my name, say my name!" okay that drew my attention. Mikaela was staring down at the little decepticon, Wheelie as he…wait was he humping her leg? Sam looked disgusted and angry.  
"What the hell are you allowing to happen to your foot?" he grouched.  
"At least he's faithful Sam." She retorted bitterly. My eyes widened,  
"Samuel James Witwicky what the hell!" I cried, shocked my brother would do such a thing.  
"It was a decepticon and _she_ kissed me!" he said defensively. I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. Sam had kissed another girl? Decepticon or not I was furious with him! He'd done nothing but pine for Mikaela then when he finally had her he couldn't tell her he loved her and did a _great_ job of showing it by kissing another female!

I gave him my infamous 'we're so talking about this later' look and watched him shrink back. Sam finally turned to ask the old robot to continue, and he suddenly exploded,  
"I told you my name was Jetfire! Stop judging me! I have issue of my own! It started with my mother, my ancestors had been here for centuries and my father was a wheel, the first wheel!" he rambled as my eyebrows furrowed. What was with this guy! "Do you know what he'd transform into? Nothing! But he did so with pride!" He snapped banging his stick on the ground. It was almost comical really, he'd got himself so worked up he shit a parachute that filled with the breeze and pulled him back on his ass. I would not be a good nurse I realised when I burst out laughing and the others rushed to help concernedly. Pocketing the taser I walked over to join them, keeping half an eye on Simmons as I plotted my revenge.  
"I think we can help each other!" Sam insisted, "You know stuff that I don't know, I know stuff that you don't know."  
"I don't think he knows anything, I really don't." Leo piped up with a shake of his head.  
"Sam, show him." I ordered. Sam took the knife Simmons offered him while Jetfire struggled to his feet, carving the symbols he saw into the ground and talking rapidly as he went,  
"I could do this all day, it comes in waves, vivid little symbols in my mind. Megatron wants what's in my mind and someone called the Fallen-"  
"The Fallen!" Jetfire yelled as if we couldn't hear him and I winced a little as my migraine steadily grew worse. The words 'the original decepticon' was not something I wanted to hear and I cringed slightly. What had Sam gotten himself into?

Jetfire was still rambling about the Fallen was all about the apocalypse and terrible to work for, then suddenly came to an abrupt conclusion,  
"I remember now! My mission! The daggers tip! The Key!" Jetfire cried.  
"Hold on slow down! The daggers tip?" Sam repeated confusedly.  
"No time to explain!" Jetfire insisted, and to my horror an electrical current began building, crackling and giving off waves of heat as Jetfire crouched and encircled us with his hands, "Hold still everybody or you'll die!" he warned. My heart raced in my chest and I felt horribly sick, the electricity whipping my hair about until a few strands came loose from my bun to frame my face.  
"Sam!" I yelled seeing him holding Mikaela close. We shared a long look, a look we'd perfected since we had met the decepticons, it was a way to say I love you without words. It was then I realised I wasn't ready to die. When death was potentially near and slapping me in the face I realised I wasn't ready to go, and squeezed me eyes shut out of terror while Leo screamed down my ear. There was a loud pop and then…nothing. I was weightless, buoyant, floating on nothing. No sound, no light, no anything. Was this death? But I could feel my heart pounding. My body twisted suddenly like I was being shot out of a canon, another loud pop echoing in my ears before it was flooded with the mechanical whir of Bee's scream, Jazz's loud protests that he wasn't a football and the screams of my travel companions. I landed hard on my front with a groan, body aching and head pounding as my migraine came on full force.

My upper body rested on something soft, and it squirmed weakly beneath me.  
"Seriously?" the nasally voice of Simmons was no relief to my ears. "I couldn't have had your brothers little criminal girlfriend?" he shoved my shoulder slightly and with a groan I pushed myself up slightly…to come face to face with his crotch. Gasping in displeasure I sat back on my heels and scrubbed my face viciously. Simmons snorted, "Oh please, my genitalia improved your face." My hand flew back to the taser in my back pocket and I thrust it forward, watching him buck and twist with a vicious kind of satisfaction. "S-S-Sorry." He stammered with a glare. Climbing to my feet I glanced around, beads of sweat breaking out on my forehead as the heat of the _dessert_ hit me full force. Where the hell had he taken us? We were surrounded by red dusty sand and sunburnt rocks, nowhere I recognised. The middle of a dessert without water was not a place I wanted to be. Grabbing Simmons by the arm I dragged him through the burning sand, fighting against his twitching as we crested the dune and saw Sam, Mikaela and Leo had regrouped not too far away, seventy meters at the most. Leo raised his hand in a wave and I waved back,  
"Told you I'd get him back!" I yelled, stepping aside to reveal Simmons before picking him back up to drag him the rest of the way. "You know, you're as much of a dead weight now as you were when I first met you." I huffed. Simmons could only grunt in reply.


	23. Chapter 23: Egypt

The heat was searing through my bones, the sun punishing and cruel bringing out beads of sweat on my forehead. Not a good day to wear jeans, oh no.  
"You alright sugar?" Jazz asked, kneeling beside me and blinking in that way the autobots have. Exhaling slowly I nodded,  
"I'm okay I think, you?" Jazz nodded in agreement and held out my backpack, the tiny thing pinched between his huge metal fingers. "Give me some cover while I grab some shorts?" I asked him, glancing over at Mikaela and asking if she wanted some. She was in jeans and though they were white it would still be warm. Shrugging at her I quickly stripped behind his hand, yanking my shorts back on and grabbing my ankle boots, they were essentially walking boots which would be good in the sand but they were so cute with my shorts I'd just had to pack them! Jazz took me up in his hand, optics almost glaring at Jetfire as he lumbered over us while Simmons (his right arm still twitching – score!) informed him he'd have heard from his mother if he got hurt. A small smirk graced my lips and I shook my head bemusedly, watching Mikaela bandage Sam's hand. He'd gotten an electricity burn and that was going to sting for some time.  
"I told you I was opening a space bridge! It's the fastest way to travel!" Jetfire snapped grumpily.  
"Whoa! No you didn't!" I protested, gesturing around us, "We had no clue we were coming to the middle of freaking nowhere!" Jetfire pointed his walking stick at me threateningly and Jazz pulled his hand closer to his chest,  
"Hey, point it elsewhere, I don't care how old your ass is, I'll kick it." He promised darkly.  
"You didn't tell us anything!" Sam agreed furiously, turning and spreading his arms wide, "Why the hell are we in Egypt!"

Okay, so Egypt wasn't the middle of nowhere and maybe I was over exaggerating, but we were surrounded by sedimentary rock formations and those little pale shrub things that grow in the dessert! There was no sign of civilization for miles around and with no cities or villages there was no water, and I had already been hungry before we left! On the plus side, in the middle of Egypt meant we were less likely to be found by the CIA or FBI.  
"Don't you get snippy with me fleshling." Jetfire growled, a loud clunk sounding as he sat himself down on the rock.  
"Look can you just focus for a minute?" Sam demanded sounding frazzled, "Can you tell us why we're in Egypt so we can have some semblance of peace of mind?" That got a nod of agreement from pretty much everyone and I heard Bee whir from below us. He and the twins had ended up further away and had only just met up with us so sat at the bottom of the rock we were on, listening in as Jetfire began to tell us his story, standing up again and grinding his joints into dust.  
"This planet was visited by our earliest ancestors nearly a millennia ago. They were on an exploratory mission to harvest energon, the life blood of Cybertron! Without we would cease to exist! Oxidize and fall apart, do you have any idea what it's like to slowly fall apart?" Jetfire was shouting by the end of it, more of his cogs breaking off and disappearing over the edge of the cliff face. I sighed and rubbed my temples, the bright sunlight making me squint and hurting my eyes. Leaning back against Jazz's thumb I dangled my leg over the edge, swinging it absent mindedly.  
"He's not just falling apart he's got pieces coming off in chunks." I mumbled, making Jazz chuckle.  
"Let's not get episodic okay old timer? Beginning middle end, facts, plot, condense it and tell it, go." Simmons said exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air. God I found myself agreeing with him more and more and it was creeping me out.

Jetfire stared at him like he was the dirt under his foot, and I snickered when I realised he hated Simmons almost as much as I did.  
"The explorers found a source of energon in this dessert, and our ancestors built a great machine to harvest energon, by destroying suns." The ominous tone of his deep voice made me shudder. Destroying suns? Well that wasn't good.  
"You mean blow them up?" Leo asked, eyes widening and a look of pure shock on his face.  
"Welcome to the world of aliens." I chirped with fake enthusiasm, earning a look from Simmons that I replied to with my middle finger, "There were seven of you in the beginning right? Seven primes, and they set out to look for energon sources."  
"How'd you know that?" Jetfire sounded suspicious and I shrugged,  
"Optimus told me, but he never mentioned you'd be destroying suns." I frowned a little, how much more had he kept from us?  
"They were, they set out to find distant suns to harvest." Jetfire confirmed it and my heart sank a little, "The Primes set out with one rule, never destroy a planet with life…until one Prime broke this rule and his name forevermore was the Fallen." Ah, okay, that sounded more like the autobots I knew. But how long would it have been until energon was running so low that they had no choice but to harvest suns from planets with life? It wouldn't be a permanent solution would it? Pushing the thoughts away I focused on the here and now, on our sun. We lost our sun we'd lose our source of heat and light, the world would be plunged into complete darkness and we'd enter another ice age. Shuddering at the thought I focused back on Jetfire, "He despised the human race and he wanted to kill you all by turning on that machine." He continued, holding out his palm to project a holographic image.

So he was the Fallen. He looked a bit like a little demon, you know like those Hawaiian tikki things with the long heads and animal like bodies, only he was made of metal with a sort of metal headdress and spear, the glowing red eyes of a decepticon glaring out at us evilly. The hologram jumped onto a set of rocks with a mechanical snarl. Other large looking robots had sprung up now and I guessed they were the six other Primes. The Fallen was being ganged up on, a prism like object floating in the air among them. It ended in a point on both sides and was thicker in the middle, like a cage of sorts.  
"The matrix of leadership." I breathed. Jetfire nodded once,  
"He taught you our history?" he asked. Nodding my head I stood up, leaning my shoulder against Jazz's thumb,  
"He did, Optimus taught me some of your history and how to record it in your language, but it's hard to get the hang of Cybertronian." I confessed.  
"The only way to turn on the machine was with a key called the matrix of leadership." Jetfire informed the rest of the group, and I listened intently as he told me parts of their history Optimus had left out. The hologram spread out to the floor below and robots popped up out of the sand. We gazed in awe as tiny explosions and the whirring metal of fighting machines played out a battle below us, "A great battle took place over the possession of the matrix." Jetfire said, "The Fallen was stronger than his brothers so they had no choice but to steal it and hide it from him." The Fallen was stabbed through the chest by some identical looking Primes, who snatched the floating matrix from the air and cradled it to their chests.

My eyes narrowed on the scene. So they hid the matrix on Earth? It would be the one place he wouldn't go since he hated the human race so much, but then why the dessert in Egypt of all places?  
"So what did they do with it?" Sam asked finally, looking up at Jetfire warily.  
"In the ultimate sacrifice they locked it away in a tomb made of their own bodies, a tomb we cannot find." He answered. I watched the blinding flash of light on the hologram merge the Primes into the rock. It looked just like any other damn rock in Egypt! This was going to be tougher than we thought. "Somewhere in this dessert that terrible machine remains. The Fallen knows where it is, and if he finds the tomb before you do then your world will be no more." The warning was clear and I inhaled deeply, holding my breath for ten and then exhaling slowly, trying to calm my nerves. So the fate of the world was on our shoulders again? I wasn't paid enough for this shit.  
"So how do we stop him?" Mikaela asked, looking unnerved but determined to play her part as always.  
"We need a Prime, only a Prime can stop the Fallen." Jetfire answered. Sam mumbled Optimus's name and my heart sank again, the grief weighing heavily on my chest. I heard Bee whir sadly below us and hung my head. "Is he alive here on Earth?" Jetfire asked excitedly.  
"He sacrificed himself for me." Sam admitted quietly.  
"Without a Prime it's impossible, only a Prime can stop the Fallen." Jetfire repeated, sending a chill down my spine.

So that was it? There was nothing we could do? No Optimus, no Earth? My stomach twisted nauseously and I struggled to keep my breakfast down as I wiped the sweat from my brow. That couldn't be the end of us could it? There was always something! Maybe we could give him some sort of jump start like a giant electric shock or…wait…  
"Hang on, if the energy in the matrix is designed to power up the machine…could it be used to reactivate Optimus? Could it power up an autobot instead?" I questioned, pacing on Jazz's palm as my mind clicked into gear.  
"It was never designed for that purpose, but it's an energy unlike no other." Jetfire replied, not agreeing but not exactly disagreeing either. Eyes lighting up I nodded once,  
"Then we have to try! We find this matrix we can plug it straight into his damaged spark and bam! Hello Optimus!" I cried, patting Jazz's thumb so he'd put me down. Jazz did as I asked and I stared between them all, "Guys we could do this." I insisted, hanging onto the only hope we had left. It was either that or curl up and wait to die, and I for one was determined to go down fighting. Besides to get to Optimus we'd have to get to Will, and I was desperate to see him again.  
"So how do you get us to the matrix before the deception's get to me?" Sam asked, sharing my determination and stepping up beside me, his hand close enough for me to grab. Needing the comfort I did just that, reassuring myself that my brother was still here. Stomach flip-flopping nervously I listened to Jetfire go on another intense ramble,  
"Use your head! The symbols, your map! When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip three kings will reveal the doorway!" he stood back up, metal grinding and clanking as he did, "Find the doorway! Go! Go!" he snapped beginning to usher us off of the rock. I pulled Sam with me by the hand as he continued in the background, "It was my mission but now it's yours. Go! Before the deception's find me, and find you."

We climbed down carefully, feet finding the ledges and lowering ourselves down safely. Mikaela had shed herself of her waistcoat jacket thing and thrown it in the back of Bee, who had transformed with the twins into their alt modes for us to get into. Jazz went next and I climbed in through the open door. To my surprise, Leo leant down by the passenger door,  
"Can I ride with you please?" he asked. Lifting a brow I shrugged,  
"It's up to Jazz." I said, "I have no problem with it." Leo was harmless for the most part, just a nerdy guy in desperate need of a more active sex life, and beside if he got too much Jazz could just pop open the door and eject him. His door opened and Leo slid in with a smile, "Thanks…that Simmons guy is doing my nut." He said. Laughing I patted the steering wheel, watching Jazz kick up some sand as he sped after our friends,  
"Simmons does everyone's nut." I conceded, "Try knowing him as long as we have." Leo glanced at me curiously and I launched into the story of how we'd met him, from him busting into our house right up until the Hoover Dam base. The time passed oddly fast with the scenery not really varying much besides the size of rock formations and the odd group of camels running alongside us. We ran in a convoy, Bee up front with Skids and Mudflap in the middle, us at the back. It was actually kind of fun when Leo got the message that flirting wasn't the answer. We were busy laughing over Simmons's hair when the radio clicked on,  
 _"_ _Sugar, oh honey honey…Daggers Tip…red sea…Gulf of Aqaba…that's where you'll find me."_ The myriad of voices took me a moment to sort through before I understood enough to gasp and pat his dashboard,  
"Nice work!" I complimented.  
"He talks through the radio?" Leo asked in awe. Humming under my breath I nodded,  
"Guessing the guys figured it out up front, it makes sense now! I've heard of some of the boys talking about it when I've been with Epps and Will. The Gulf of Aqaba on the red sea, it splits it like the dagger hence why it's called the Dagger's Tip." I explained.

It took a few hours, a peaceful silence settling over us until we found a road, more vegetation growing now with long grasses on the side of the road and bigger, greener shrubs dotting the roadside.  
"Finally, solid ground." Leo sighed, "I've been thinking though, how do we get Optimus over to Egypt?" Leo asked curiously. My eyebrows furrowed slightly as the shimmering image of a village appeared on the horizon.  
"We make a call." I thought aloud. Simmons had that stupid satellite GPS phone thing he'd packed, if he got us the co-ordinates I could get him through to the air force and we could get Will to make the drop. Actually it depended on how angry Will was with me. Would he want to listen to me? Chewing my lip I pushed down the anxiety, he had to, I'd make him - the fate of the world was at stake here.  
"Holy shit, police, police!" Leo screamed panickedly. Ah, we were back to little girl Leo. Clutching the door panel tightly I tried not to slide as Jazz skidded to the side to avoid the oncoming cop cars. We raced all the way into the Egyptian town, I had no clue what it was called but had never been happier to see stone houses and a market place. Well, before one of the cars barreled through the market stall that is.  
"Jazz tell Bee to get off this road so we can lay low!" I snapped, grabbing the wheel and yanking a hard left.  
"Where are you going?" Leo yelled, clutching onto the dashboard for dear life.  
"Trust me and don't scream!" I snapped back, taking the wheel as Jazz gave me control. We raced through back alleys before Jazz took a few turns for me, the radio whirring,  
 _"_ _Hold on until it's over!"_ I almost groaned and grabbed Leo's arm,  
"Brace yourself!" I warned. Jazz transformed suddenly and sent us flying up into the air.

We sailed over the roof of a house, screaming and flailing as Jazz's outstretched hand rushed to meet us. Bee was clinging to the edge of a roof across from us, Skids and Mudflap having transformed too to dangle from his hands with him. Jazz was holding on like a spider monkey as me and Leo struggled to regain our breath, stomachs having plummeted far below us during the flight.  
"I can't hold on!" Leo panted, scrabbling for purchase on Jazz's little finger. Scrambling over I braced myself on his fourth finger and gripped his wrist tight,  
"Don't let go." I groaned, gritting my teeth as my sweaty palms struggled to hold him. Sam and Simmons were on the floor not too far below, Mikaela disguised with a hijab over her face so only her eyes could be seen.  
"This is called blending in like a ninja." Mudflap said, his red form dangling like a lemur from the edge of the worn down building. Jazz lowered us down as far as he could when Mikaela declared they were gone, and Leo landed on his face at Simmons feet while I agilely dropped down next to him.  
"Leo." I sighed, hauling him up and dusting him off. Sam raised an eyebrow at me curiously and I shrugged back at him, what could I say? I felt responsible for the kid! "We all okay?" I asked. After receiving a few nods Sam shook his head,  
"No, we're running out of time." He insisted, "We've gotta get moving, I was thinking we could make a call to Lennox?" he looked at me and I inhaled sharply, nodding once,  
"I had the same thought." I agreed.  
"You're the most wanted kid, you try calling that base they'll track you back here in seconds!" Simmons snapped.  
"That's why you're going to call." I growled, shoving his arm, "You send them the coordinates and tell them the kid needs the big truck dropped, Will will know."

My heart broke a little in my chest. As much as I hated to admit it Simmons had a point, if either me or Sam called up then they'd track us back here in a heartbeat, but they weren't looking for Simmons and that would buy him more time. I wanted to speak to him, really I did, but it just wasn't feasible. We moved quickly, walking under archways and stonework to try and find the centre of this little town to find a phone. The silence between myself and Simmons was stony and deafening as we grabbed some cloth each and wrapped it around our heads to blend in.  
"What are you doing? I don't need a babysitter." Simmons grumbled.  
"Oh yeah? Do you know the number?" I asked tauntingly. Simmons scowled at me furiously as I covered my face and sighed, "Look, when you get through and give them those coordinates I need you to…to do me a favour." I could barely force the words past my lips and Simmons looked highly amused,  
"Oh really?" he asked with a sly grin, "Me?"  
"Yes you!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, "I…I need you to let Will know that I'm sorry for that stupid text, okay? Just tell him his engineer says she's sorry." Simmons evaluated me for a moment as we waited for the right moment where there weren't so many people for us to step out. He nodded slowly,  
"Okay." He agreed quietly, and for once we didn't argue.

Will's Point of View:

I'd been driving myself crazy, joining in the manhunt for my own girlfriend in an effort to track her down and know she was okay. She'd done us proud though, virtually becoming a ghost. No one had seen or heard of the Witwicky's most wanted group as of yet. We were still at New Jersey after a bunch of political bullshit but were being shipped out soon, and the whole base was a buzz with personnel packing the autobots onto cargo planes in their alt modes and packing themselves and their bags into separate ones.  
"NEST departure at twenty one hundred hours." A voice announced, I didn't care whose.  
"We're shipping them back to base…this is such a mistake." I huffed, eyes narrowed on the scene before us as Epps stood beside me resolutely, his face impassive.  
"Major Lennox." A soldier called my name and I turned, spotting a young private on the comms station motioning for me to join him, "You have a phone call sir." Did I mention I'd been demoted back to Major since NEST was officially no longer active? It sucked. Epps raised an eyebrow at me as I rolled my eyes,  
"More bureaucratic nonsense to get shoved up my ass no doubt." I mumbled. Epps snorted,  
"I knew you took it up the ass." He teased, trying to lighten the mood. Involuntarily I grinned at him, shaking my head and pulling the headset on,  
"Lennox here." I said formally, knowing I had to be polite. It was a voice I was never expecting to hear from again, nasally and annoying, it was Seymour fucking Simmons.  
"Lennox, Lennox, I'm with the kid, the kid you know? The one with the attitude? We need the truck." He was speaking so fast I had to nudge the private out of the way and begin scribbling down key details so they wouldn't get lost in translation. My heart was pounding. If he was with Sam did that mean Ellie was there? "We got a possible resurrection going on over here, you're not gonna believe where we are, Tut, as in King, Tutankhamun, the back of a one dollar bill. Coordinates for air drop 29.5 North, 34.9 East, write it down."

I did as he asked, exhaling sharply and feeling my lips twitch. I fought down the smile as Epps peered over my shoulder.  
"Ellie's sending us a gift." I murmured.  
"I gotta go the heats coming." Simmons grumbled, and the police sirens in the background were enough of a clue to let me know she was in danger. Egypt? King Tut and the pyramids was all Egypt but what was there besides dessert and camels? There was a slight crackle as the phone was jostled but then the one voice I had needed to hear came on the line.  
"Will I don't have time to talk so just listen, I'm sorry for every stupid thing I've done and goddamit I love you, okay! I'm sorry and I love you." my heart stopped and I managed a breathy laugh. I could hear the waver in her voice and wanted nothing more than to be there to reassure her she could do this, that she was going to be just fine.  
"We've got to go Ellie come on, come on!" I recognised Sam in the background, the urgency in my tone making my anxiety flare up some more.  
"Come and get me soldier." She ordered before the line went dead.  
"El!" I couldn't stop myself from saying her name even after the dial tone hit me. Slowly sitting back I removed the headset. She was okay, she was alive and well with her brother in Egypt, but for how much longer? The police were right on their tail! They had Jazz and Bumblebee though, and the twins had never come back either which could be either good or bad.

Epps clapped my shoulders, standing behind me and chuckling to himself as he stared over the coordinates,  
"What she have to say for herself?" he asked.  
"I need you to come with me." I said, abruptly standing up and heading for another station with my notes, away from the young private far too eager to get up the new bosses ass. I headed for the one pilot I knew I could trust as the sky turned dark outside. Handing him the coordinates I waited impatiently on the tarmac and explained to Epps what Simmons had told me, "They're over in Egypt, they think they've got a way to revive Optimus."  
"Revive Op-…they serious?" he asked skeptically. Nodding once I watched trusty pilot Watson come down the steps of his plane,  
"Coordinates are in the red sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Egypt." He informed us.  
"Egypt?" Epps repeated incredulously, looking between us, "Are you serious?" A frown crinkled my brows and I ran a hand through my hair before nodding,  
"Yeah I am." I said finally, giving Watson a small nod, "Keep those coordinates on you and your channel open, just in case…and keep this between us, Watson." I ordered. Smirking slightly he nodded, heading back inside as I turned and started a slow walk with Epps.  
"Even if we can get the big man over there how are they supposed to bring him back?" he questioned. Head spinning I sighed,  
"I don't know man, but we have to trust them." I insisted, "This is Ellie, if she thinks she can do this…I believe her."

Epps gave me a slightly apologetic look as I glanced up and around me. All my men would follow me anywhere, I knew that much, but how would we get the autobots out there to back us up? Watson was taking Optimus so that was no problem but the others were in a separate carrier…actually that wasn't a problem at all.  
"Oh no, no no no I know that look." Epps groaned.  
"Sorry." I chuckled, not really apologetic, "We're getting on that plane with the autobots so we can ship them out there with us, and…I have a plan in mind for blessed Mr Galloway and the less you know the better." I smirked at him before clapping his shoulder and moving away to organise it. I could feel Galloway watching me, feel his eyes glaring laser beams into my back as I passed by my men and murmured the plan in their ears. When the time came for us to leave we were all on the same plane, and Galloway had gotten on to watch us all just as I had predicted. The pilot knew what to do, and we just had to wait. It was the longest wait of my life though as Epps kept glancing at me with half a smirk, not knowing exactly what I had planned but guessing it was going to be good. It was going to be the ultimate revenge for all of the shit Galloway had put us through, treating us like dirt was never a good thing to do. I leaned back against the wall of the carrier, the thrumming of the engines calming me and the vibrations running through my body relaxing my muscles. This was my time to focus and get my head in the game so I could effectively lead these boys into another potential warzone.

It was hard to clear my head though knowing Ellie was out there in danger, relying on me to get to her. _Come and get me soldier_. I was, I wished I'd promised her that too and hoped she'd know. I never got to tell her I loved her either. Epps was forever on my wavelength though and nudged me discreetly with his arm,  
"You didn't need to say it, she knows." He promised me under his breath.  
"I hope so." I murmured, "Man I can't wait to see her again." She'd only supposed to be gone a week to help her brother move in, so far the week had been spent with her on the run and that had made it seem like a lifetime.  
"Something on your mind Major?" Galloway asked, a small sneer curling his lip upwards. I kept my face impassive. A lot of the boys knew about my relationship with Ellie, which meant Galloway had tuned into the gossip mill and found out too, so when it came out that she was one the worlds most wanted list (third only to her brother and his girlfriend) I'd gotten a lot of stick for it from some of the guys who didn't know her. Galloway had settled back with a victorious smirk when I hadn't replied, and hatred boiled like acid in my gut. Finally, the message I'd been waiting for arrived.  
"What?" I asked feigning confusion, my acting was terrible and if he'd bothered to look through it he'd have seen the truth no doubt, but he was beginning to panic just as I knew he would. Epps chuckled lowly, suddenly guessing what I had in mind as I stood up in my gear, "Alright team grab your chutes!" I ordered, helping Galloway get the heavy thing on his back. "You familiar with the standard MC4?" I asked, going military mode on him as I began doing the harnesses too tight.

I hoped they pinched him real hard, him and that stupid report of his. He glanced at me irritatedly over his shoulder,  
"Of course not." He snapped, "I've never had to jump out of a perfectly good plane before." My team were getting ready behind me, shuffling and moving to tie down Optimus and make a good show of it. Epps deliberately bumped him as he bent over to pretend to tighten the laces on his boots with a smirk. "Wait, you're behind this aren't you?" Galloway said, going pale and looking angry. I bent down to do up the harness buckles by his thighs and frowned up at him quizzically,  
"What? No, you heard the pilot, these guys don't mess around. I'm just following orders to the letter, like you said." I grunted, yanking hard and enjoying the way his face pinched up in pain. There was a clank as Watson's plane gave us a high five outside and the carrier began banking left, circling back around to head to our real destination as Galloway tried to tell me my career was dead. Personally I thought I'd be receiving a promotion again after this but hey-ho, if they disagreed…Galloway was whimpering pathetically as I dragged him to the back of the carrier, the backside lowering and the wind whipping in harshly. It stung my skin and chilled me to the core but it was familiar to me, nothing that worried me as I grabbed him and dragged him around.  
"Where's your chute!" he screeched in a panic.  
"I have to secure the VIP's first!" I yelled back, sarcasm dripping from every word, "Now listen carefully and memorise everything I say." I deliberately ran through it all faster than normal, fighting off a grin as he stared at me with a pale face and pleading eyes, looking ready to throw up. "Each chute has a GPS tracker in it so you'll be picked up by search and rescue." Even I couldn't hear myself over the wind by now and I knew he couldn't either, but he was shouting at me about it so I gave him the slap I had wanted to give him for a while now.

His expression was glorious and I held onto it for all I was worth as he struggled to stand in the strong wind. I'd lead him down a little further than necessary to scare him a bit and was immensely enjoying his expression - if he shit himself he'd make my day.  
"I can't hear you!" he screamed in terror.  
"Red's your back up and blue's your primary!" I yelled back as if I hadn't heard him and mimed pulling it, "I want you to pull the blue one hard, and I mean pull it really hard!" he looked ready to cry as he yanked it and I barely held back my laugh, "Not now we're on the plane you dumbass!" I grinned as he stared up at me in fright before his chute caught the wind and dragged him out of the plane with a scream. Moving back to the boys I stood by Epps and watched his chute disappear, taking the horrible little man with it.  
"He say goodbye?" Epps called over the wind.  
"No, he didn't even say goodbye." I called back, this time unable to hold in my laughter as I motioned for someone to bring up the ramp. When the wind was knocked out I glanced around at my boys who were smirking and slapping high fives, "Nice acting boys." I complimented, "But get your heads back in the game, we're heading to Egypt." I got a few confused looks in reply and smiled slightly, "This is the plan…"


	24. Chapter 24: I'll Bring The War

Ellie's Point of View:

Egypt. I'd never been to Egypt but it was bloody hot in the day and cold at night. Bee and the twins were on perimeter patrol and Jazz had stayed with me, ever the loyal protector he was. We were in some sort of run down museum or observatory, I wasn't quite sure what it was but we were right beside one of the pyramids. It was impressive, old looking stonework that was worn in places lit up by bright white light, the very top still remained in shadow though giving it a sad kind of haunted beauty. It was the kind of thing you'd take a photo of, a once in a lifetime kind of memory. Jazz had parked just in front of it as I lay across the seats with my eyes closed, trying to get some sleep. Sam was with Mikaela somewhere outside and Simmons had fallen asleep with Leo, the pair of them mushed together catching flies. It would have been cute if I didn't hate Simmons so much but I swore they'd end up cuddling by the end of the night. I was trying and failing to sleep however, Jazz keeping the temperature in here just right and the radio on low to my favourite relaxing tunes.  
 _"_ _She moves, she moves!"_ the radio chirped and Jazz jerked the seat in annoyance. Slapping the dashboard I glared at him,  
"Sorry for being so fidgety! I can't help it!" I grumbled, rolling onto my back and bending my knee. My hands were folded on my stomach tracing the pattern of my crochet top.  
 _"_ _Talk dirty to me."_ The radio sang, cutting off its tunes to hear me out. I giggled slightly,  
"Oh Jazz, your exhaust pipes just so big!"  
 _"_ _I can go for miles if you know what I mean."_ He whirred and I burst into laughter. Shaking my head slightly I rubbed the dashboard affectionately,  
"I'm just impatient." I said finally, "I know Will's coming and I…I'm excited to see him. I hope he's excited to see me too but I don't know if he's still mad, I mean I got myself on the worlds most wanted list! The thing is I've never liked anyone this much, I'm completely in love with the fool Jazz and it's…it's scary just how much I depend on knowing he's there."

Jazz was silent for a while, contemplating my words and trying to think of some sort of response. I didn't need anything Gandhi style from him, just his listening ear…wait would that be his mirror? I didn't know anymore. Jazz was too sweet for his own good however and put together a pic 'n' mix of voices on the radio,  
 _"_ _That's how it's supposed to be…when you're in love…but I hope you'll always know…even if…it goes unsaid…you…don't need no man…when I got you babe."_ He replied. Smiling slightly I nodded and closed my eyes again, well aware that my autobot would always be there for me. From the moment I'd met him he'd been my closest confidant and I knew he'd continue to be so when I was old and gray…he'd be the one driving me to have my hip replacement at sixty three I was sure of it. My thoughts drifted back to Will, those intelligent brown eyes and that infuriating smirk of his, the muscle he hid beneath his shirts and that incredible cooking. I could still remember his goodbye on the runway, the way he kissed me without a care in the world, oblivious to his audience even though I could hear the whoops and cheers from his teammates and various other personnel milling about. That goofy grin when he was mucking about with Epps…that was maybe what I missed most. The anticipation in my stomach was too much to handle but I forced myself to take slow even breaths until I drifted off into a restless sleep. I don't quite know how long I managed to sleep for but I was aware of a loud bang on the door and someone screaming my name. I jolted awake, sitting upright quickly and smashing my knee off of the stick shift with a groan. Sam was looking at me with wide eyes form behind the glass and I involuntarily screamed – he looked like some sort of serial killer in the dark like that!

Scrambling out of Jazz I followed after his fleeing form towards the building Simmons and Leo were in, rubbing my knee as I went along until the ache was bearable enough for me to walk on.  
"Sam slow down already! What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded.  
"He had to change the subject." Mikaela chipped in dryly as we walked together up the stairs after him. My eyebrows rose slightly and I shook my head. We had bigger problems than an emotionally constipated teenager right now!  
"Astronomy class you remember that?" Sam was talking at a rapid pace again and I mentally tried to slap myself awake enough to understand his ramblings.  
"No, I was only in college for two days, do you remember that?" Leo retorted sarcastically, a sardonic smile spreading across his lips as I snorted. Sam got him and Simmons on their feet and dragged us all outside, wild hand gestures pointing out the stars he was ranting about,  
"You see those three stars that touch the horizon? That's Orion's belt but it's also called the three kings because the three kings that built those pyramids built them to match up with those stars." He explained. Involuntarily I smiled – my baby brother was smarter than he looked. The sky was going a pale blue as the early morning sun began to creep up on us. "It's like an arrow staring us right in the face!" Sam exclaimed.  
"They all point due east towards Jordan." Simmons thought aloud, "The Mountains of Petra."  
"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked, turning on my heel and heading for the door, "We need to move fast incase the decepticon's worked it out too!"  
"Ellie can I ride with you?" Mikaela asked, jogging to keep up with me. Nodding once I took the stairs two at a time and jogged towards Jazz.

She slid into the passenger seat and I patted the steering wheel, telling Jazz where we were headed to and letting him get us down to ground level before I took control, needing to drive to give my mind something to do other than think.  
"You can't do this." I said suddenly, glancing at Mikaela who frowned at me confusedly. Sighing I shook my head, "I know my brother did you wrong kissing that other girl, and I know how badly you want him to say it but Mikaela we've got bigger issues right now. I need you to stop worrying about that because if you're distracted it could get you killed and I don't want to see you get hurt." Mikaela huffed slightly and looked out of the window, chin resting on her hand. She clearly hadn't wanted to hear that and thought I'd side with her, but I was more concerned about her safety than her love life right now. Trying to drown away the uncomfortable silence I turned on the radio, blasting some All Time Low through the speakers and singing along loud and proud until Mikaela finally tapped her foot to the beat, bobbing her head slightly and slowly moving past her annoyance. We drove for hours back out into the dessert, the air con coming on to cool us down as I grabbed my sunglasses from the glovebox and slipped them on. It had to be midday or so by now, temperatures were at a record high since we'd been here and the sun was bright up above, blinding almost. The autobots drove as far as they could until we had to get out and climb up ourselves. The rock towered around us as we picked our way through sand and stone, the uneven ground tripping us up once or twice. I had to keep hauling Leo's ass up off the ground as he stumbled alongside me.  
"Alright it has to be around here somewhere." Simmons insisted for the umpteenth time, his GPS thing in his hand.

Sweat was beading in my hairline and trailing down my spine but we pressed on, ignoring the heat as best we could and looking for anything out of the ordinary. My stomach was churning with anxiety and I wondered briefly if this would work. I had to banish the thought as quickly as it came because if I gave up hope now…there'd be no hope for humanity. Hauling Leo up again I sighed at his outfit,  
"It's the damn dress you're wearing dude."  
"Hey! This is chic in this part of the world." He argued. My eyebrows tried to escape into my hairline and I scoffed,  
"Yeah, and I'm Taylor Swift."  
"Hey, hey, hey!" Sam called to get our attention and pointed at the rocks before us. They were beautifully carved with circular pillars, the architecture similar to regal looking floor to ceiling windows that had been designed into Chateau's in France and stately English manor houses. It was like a temple set into the rock…or a tomb! Sam took off at a run and we followed, leaping over the rocks trying to tip us up and ignoring the heat of the sun on our backs. We had to get there first, this was all the hope we had and to let it go now would crush me. The lumbering run of the autobots shook the earth as they thudded along behind us, the last to reach the platform set into the rock that this tomb rested on.  
"Look at the size of those things!" Simmons gushed like a schoolgirl talking to his crush. His love of all things alien was going to get him in trouble one day.  
"Spectacular." One of the twins said in awe. I nodded in agreement as Jazz plodded up beside me, looking at the stonework with a skeptical expression, like he couldn't believe it was autobot made.

Sam took a run up and hauled himself up onto the ledge to get inside. Leo scrambled up next as Sam turned to help Mikaela, who Simmons was lifting from behind. I hauled myself up, letting Leo pull me to my feet once I was up there and brushed the dust off of my knees.  
"It's gotta be here somewhere." Sam said adamantly, looking around the inside of the cool cave we'd entered. There were a few faded works of art on the wall and I guessed some people had used this place as a temple eons back.  
"Why? Just because Grandpa Blackbird said so because he doesn't even know what planet he's on!" Leo protested, looking as skeptical as Jazz did as the autobots climbed in, their huge shadows blocking out a lot of the sunlight.  
"In his defense this is the biggest doorway I've ever seen." Simmons piped up.  
"Let me look around, oh right, there's nothing here!" Leo yelled, drawing Simmons into an argument about leprechauns and booby traps. Sam was sat with his head hung and I walked over to rub his shoulder,  
"I think you're right." I said quietly, "We're missing something here that's all." Sam gave me a tired smile and squeezed my hand, leaning against my hip as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him close, stroking his hair like I used to do when he had nightmares when he was little. I could still remember how his shockingly curly hair would bound into my room, wiggle its way under my covers and beg me to sing him the song. Hushaby Mountain was always his favourite lullaby and unconsciously I found myself humming the old tune.

The twins were starting to argue now too and I flinched at the way their voices echoed off of the walls. Mudflap threw the first punch and Skids stumbled back, before we could stop them they'd started an all-out brawl. The ground shook, the vibrations sending tremors through the hard baked ground and echoing off of the walls like a drum beat as they rumbled about.  
"Your ugly face!" Mudflap snarled,  
"We're twins you dumbass!" Skids retorted angrily, grabbing his brother and spinning him into the wall beside us. Sam and I barely managed to duck in time as Bee finally swiped them up and held them apart, much to their annoyance.  
"Hey enough already you two!" I bellowed. The wind was whistling in here by now as Bee smashed their heads together and threw them outside. "Bee!" I chastised as they skidded to a halt some ways away. Bee simply shrugged a little and the sounds of crumbling stone cut off whatever he was going to say. Glancing over my shoulder I saw Sam and Simmons taking apart the wall frantically, revealing a metal claw like hand with the same symbols Sam had been drawing for days carved into the gnarled fingers. My breath hitched in my throat for a moment, heart beating hard in my chest as I realised this was what we'd been looking for all along.  
"Bee, shoot it." Sam ordered, moving back towards the door where we took cover as he fired up his canon, the high pitched blast making my ears ring as the dust and debris making my ears ring as we straightened out to look into the dark hole Bee had created.  
"Well well…look at that, there's something here after all." I sniped, shooting Leo a smirk as I sauntered past towards the hole with Sam, confidence rising. This was it, we'd find it and bring back Optimus and save the world, we could actually do this.

Sam began handing out flashlights and I took one with a quiet thank you, following him into the hole and climbing over the skeletal metal fingers on the floor. The flashlight beams reflected the metal dully and I exhaled slowly in awe, eyes wide to drink in as much detail as I could.  
"He was right, they made it out of their bodies." Sam murmured, looking at the robots towering around us, their bodies supporting the stone around them. Kneeling down I ran my fingers over the symbols on the side of the closest finger,  
"Tritan Prime." I murmured, eyebrows furrowing as I shone the beam around some more, "They all had names." I realised, feeling somewhat humbled and saddened to be stood amongst the dead now I knew they had had real identities.  
"The tomb of the Primes." Simmons whistled, "Yo!" the echo bounced back to him and I scowled as he screamed it louder. Elbowing him hard in the ribs I narrowed my eyes on him with a withering glare,  
"Have you no respect for the dead?" I demanded in a hushed whisper.  
"Loosen up, they've been dead thousands of years, I doubt they care." He retorted with a roll of his eyes.  
"I'll remind you of that in a few centuries when someone's dancing on your grave…probably my descendants." I grouched, pushing past him to catch up with Sam who had gotten to the center of the room. In an unfurled, rusting and damaged hand was the matrix. A prism like cage that shone brilliantly in the flashlight beams. It sent Sam to his knees.

I nearly joined him, my shocked gasp and the relief coursing through my body enough to make Leo move closer like I was about to have a heart attack. There it was, our chance to revive Optimus. Sam handled it like it was precious gold, hand shaking slightly as he lifted the great power from its resting place. It almost glowed, almost, before crumbling into dust. It collapsed in on itself like acid was melting the metal away, leaving nothing behind but a dark silver powder that blew gently across the battered palm of a Prime in the breeze. My heart stopped and I couldn't breathe. Our hope had just disintegrated right before my eyes. All hope of reviving Optimus was gone with the dust blowing away, gone with the wind if you're into puns. I was in no mood to joke though, the crushing weight of grief settling in and tears pricking at my eyes when I acknowledged that this was really it, we had lost Optimus for good and there really was no hope left.  
"No, no no." Sam repeated over and over, hands grasping at the dust and watching it slip through his fingers.  
"Thousands of years, turned to dust." Simmons voice was too loud in the silence of the tomb.  
"It wasn't supposed to end this way." Sam whispered. Kneeling beside him I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, shaking my head,  
"No it wasn't." I agreed quietly, "Not like this." A loud rumble hit my ears and I glanced up at the ceiling.  
"You here that?" Simmons sounded relieved almost and bolted for the door, shouting about C-17's.  
"What's a C-17?" Leo mumbled running after him.

Mikaela had tears in her eyes, one tracking down her cheek as Sam pushed me away and began pulling off his shoe.  
"We can't bring him back Sam, there's nothing left." She said softly, worriedly watching him as I stumbled back. She gave me a small nod, letting me know she could handle it and I turned tail and fled, my own tears slipping down my cheeks. Will was here, he was in one of those planes and all I had to do was get to him…get to him and tell him we'd got no hope left and I'd fucked up again. Simmons and Leo had climbed onto the rocks hiding our tomb from view but I remained on the ground, one hand over my mouth to stifle the sobs wanting to erupt from my body. The planes were circling in the air, moving around like it was some sort of aerial display in the burning orange sky. The sun shimmered in the heat haze and I let my tears flow freely. The decepticon's would know, there was a sinking feeling in my gut that just told me they knew and we were on their way to meet NEST, to meet us. We'd brought them here after all…we'd brought my Will here. Will…he'd be in the middle of another battle to save the world and the hope we'd promised wasn't here…we couldn't bring the rain, not this time.  
"Sugar?" Jazz sounded concerned as he knelt beside me, one large metal finger poking my cheek lightly. I realised I was crying shamelessly, silent tears falling down my cheeks as I cringed back and wiped my eyes, "Talk to me sugar." He pleaded softly.

I latched onto his finger like a child, unable to explain how I felt when I didn't really know myself. The grief was a huge factor, acknowledging Optimus was gone was like a blow to the gut every time but I was so frightened, so anxious on top of it all…my head was spinning and I needed the comfort he had to offer.  
"They're here." I cried, struggling to stop my tears and unable to keep my voice from wavering, "We've lead them straight into a death trap Jazz…I can feel it." Jazz swiftly swept me up into his hand and held me close, staring out over the dessert where the planes were descending in the distance, small black dots of parachutes floating to the ground behind them.  
"We'll fight like we always do, we'll kick ass, ain't nothing gonna stop us sugar." Jazz promised, "Besides…no matrix means no key to the ignition of sun destruction right?" Swallowing thickly I took a few deep breaths, realising he was right. Without the matrix he wouldn't be able to turn on the machine…Earth would be saved if we won this fight. This was a crucial battle more so than ever and I took another deep breath before nodding once,  
"We need to get to them, we need to help them." I said firmly. Jazz hummed,  
"There she is." He chirped, "There's my warrior princess." He set me down gently and transformed, the grinding of metal and whirring plates sliding into place soothing me some. How did you stay together when you wanted nothing more than to fall apart? The answer was simple really, the answer was family. Sam came running out with Mikaela, a bulging sock of dust in his hand.  
"I believe this can work." He declared fiercely, and though my heart ached and I didn't share his enthusiasm I let my brother cling to his hope and nodded once.  
"I support you." My simple answer was a promise I'd always stick too.

Sam shared a long look with me and I could see all of our memories flashing before my eyes, watching him grow up again in my mind into the man standing before me, so determined to change the world, so determined to save his friends. I looked at Mikaela who stared at me with a similar expression. She wasn't sure either but would stick by him.  
"Hey Sam!" Simmons called, and we headed up to meet him and Leo who was suddenly realising shit just got real apparently, his face pale and his expression worried. "Think you can bring Optimus back with your magic pixie dust?"  
"Hell yeah." Sam growled, not stopping and pushing straight through the middle of them so he could climb down and get to Bee. Once we were all at ground level we were getting in to meet up with NEST, and my heart fluttered nervously. Will was here, so close, almost tangible. I _needed_ him. Grabbing the prototype of the plasma rifle from the back I snatched up the sabot gun next and placed them on the passenger seat beside me, slinging the holster on so I could clip one to my back as I used the other. Exhaling slowly I ran my hands over Jazz's wheel,  
"Get me to Will Jazz, if Megatron want's a fight we'll bring the whole fucking war." I said, voice steely. I could do this, we could this, we could win…we had to.

We were probably breaking speeding laws somewhere but it didn't matter to us, we had a special package to deliver. The more time that passed by with my foot on the gas, the more I began to believe Sam might be right. If Sam had faith who was I to doubt him? Knuckles turning white I loosened my grip and took a breath, focusing my mind on the battle ahead as the air con sent a cool breeze over my sweaty skin.  
 _"_ _You ready?"_ the radio whirred. I didn't hesitate to nod,  
"We've got this." I answered, "You said it yourself, we don't lose…well, words to that effect anyway."  
 _"_ _I meant…to see his face…"_ the radio amended. I grimaced, tossing my sunglasses into the glovebox and huffing,  
"I'm always ready to see his face, I just hope he wants to see mine." I mumbled.  
 _"_ _Are you crazy…there's a billion girls in the world but there's only one you…he's been in love since the moment he saw her...later when the curtains drawn…destination permanent vacation!"_ Jazz promised me. Laughing lightly I shook my head fondly,  
"Jazz, I know we're going to win and all but I still…I still think I should say I love you. It's not a goodbye, I just…need you to know that I'm glad you came into my life." The radio was silent for quite a while and I watched the scenery roll by quickly, the dirty red sand billowing up behind us as the twins dodged the sand clouds to keep up with us and Bee. Suddenly the radio clicked back to life,  
 _"_ _You too…sugar...I won't say goodbye…see I love you…no matter the weather…I hope you'll always know you'll be with me wherever I go."_ Patting the dashboard I switched gears with half a smile, ignoring the anxious flutter of my heart in my throat,  
"Wherever we go buddy…I'm with you until the end."


	25. Chapter 25: Fight or be Taken Out Alive

I watched the skies diligently, waiting to any sign that could lead us to the exact location of Will and Epps. It felt like hours of stomach flipping, gut wrenching worry later that I finally saw the flare burning in the pale sky.  
"There!" I cried to no one in particular, "You see that Jazz, there's the flare, we're almost there." I followed the smoke path back to the horizon and headed that way with a relieved sigh. We were driving right up on Bee's right side now, and I shared a quick celebratory honk of the horn with Sam before we raced ahead, the twins struggling to keep up as we raced each other. Jazz had just nudged his nose in front when we saw it. There was no time to dodge it completely and the missile hit right between us and Bee, sending Jazz flying off the ground to the right. He transformed as I let out a scream, flying through the air as more missiles impacted the ground with an earth shattering force. It was a fighter jet and I knew immediately this was the bastard from Mission City we had seen before. Jazz was sliding underneath me, hand outstretched to grab me as he tumbled down a small incline, holding me up out of harms way even though the vibrations through his metal frame were rattling my bones. When he finally transformed back into his alt mode I landed in the seat with a thud, panting for air while adrenaline spread through my body like a wildfire. We sat for a minute simply catching our breath, "Let's not do that again." I suggested breathlessly. Jazz revved the engine in response before taking off to catch up to the others, honking his horn to let Bee know we were alright.

We were racing around some sort of mining or drilling platform, most likely a drilling platform since Egypt had oil reserves. Actually the Middle East had 25% of the worlds' oil reserves underneath it, fun fact for you there. We were kicking up dust with our speed but my pounding heart kept up admirably. With Starscream firing missiles at us would we even make it to Will? Starscream's missiles rocked the earth but as he landed and fired his canon into piles of rubble and rock we were shrouded in a cape of dust that allowed us a blessed moment of relief, hiding in plain sight. Slinging the plasma rifle across my back I grabbed my gun and checked it was loaded, my ammo of sabot rounds sitting in the holster across my chest – I hoped it would be enough until we could regroup with Will and the boys and I could get my hands on more. We scrambled out to meet up, Sam still clutching his sock,  
"Jazz, Bee can you play decoy and lead the decepticon's the opposite way?" he asked quickly. Jazz and Bee flashed their lights in response as Simmons piped up,  
"I'll draw their fire." My heart froze slightly and I bit my lip. Simmons was volunteering for a pretty dangerous mission and as much as I hated him I didn't want the decepticon's getting their hands on him. Sam was urging me and Mikaela to follow him but I took a quick step towards Simmons and grasped his arm,  
"Hey!" I snapped, "If anyone gets to kill you it's going to be me!" Simmons gave me a strange look before nodding and saluting me once,  
"Dito Miss Witwicky." He agreed. I watched him and Leo run for the twins as I turned on my heel and sprinted forward to catch up with Sam and Mikaela. Splitting up was not my favourite idea and my heart twisted horribly, wondering if Leo was really up for this. I prayed I could ask him later. Mikaela was looking pretty well tanned already and we'd only been here for a few days, but she was already sweating in her white jeans and floral hoodie, quickly shucking it off into the sand as we ran.

We made slow progress in the sand, slipping up sand dunes and sliding in the loose particles, sweat sticking some to our skin. We managed to scrabble our way to the top of the tallest dune to get a better view and saw it then, two more flares in the city below us. Stone buildings in the same beige as the dessert were littered through the sand like discarded Lego.  
"Alright, we've got a few miles." Sam panted. I was in a bit better shape due to training with Epps and Will but it was taking its toll on all of us. Sweat was running down my spine and I wiped my brow once more, frowning when sand fell from my hair.  
"I'm going to be washing sand off of me for the next month at least." I whined. Sam shot me an incredulous look,  
"That's what you're worried about?" he asked, "Ellie no amount of showers in the world right now could make you look attractive."  
"I love you too." I retorted with a grin, giving him a push and watching him roll down the sand dune with a cry of surprise. I smirked at Mikaela and motioned for her to go next, "It's the quickest most fun way down?" I tried to sound confident but it came out as more of a question. Mikaela simply shook her head with a breathless smile and sat herself down before pushing off, skidding in a half crouch. I followed, copying her technique as Sam chucked his jacket at the bottom and brushed off his jeans with a scowl,  
"I'm telling mom you pushed me down a sand dune." He grumbled.  
"Before or after we save the world? Get moving little brother!" I urged, taking off in a jog again as the teens groaned behind me.

Over another small dune we went until we hit a stone building I guessed was the tourist part of this village. I was getting a little bored of stone if I was honest but there was really no other way to describe the buildings. We ran through the pillars, barely taking time to marvel at the hieroglyphs etched into them or the intricately carved statues of pharaohs in the main courtyard, feet slapping the path underfoot and creating a familiar echoing noise I had missed running over the sand.  
"We've still got about a mile that way." Sam thought aloud, pulling Mikaela along as we puffed and panted our way through the Egyptian desert. Each thudding footstep drew us closer and closer to Will and I took comfort in the knowledge that soon we'd be together, whether he was still pissed or not I'd kiss him one last time because there was no guarantee we'd all get out of this alive. As we ran through the pillars the war began. I could feel the impact of the decepticon's projectiles vibrating through the earth, hear the whoosh overheard as they sailed above us. Risking a glance up I saw what looked like a meteor fly above our heads, thick black smoke trailing it as it crumbled anything standing in its path up ahead.  
"The decepticon's must know you have it, they're trying to stop us getting to Will and the others." I realised, pushing myself to go faster. When we finally made it to the edge of the village everything had become eerily silent. Starscream was still rocketing about in the sky and Sam peeked around the edge of the stone house, cursing quietly under his breath.  
"Sam, Ellie in here." Mikaela whispered, pushing open the wooden door so we could hide inside.

We took a moment to catch our breath as we waited in a tense silence for the danger to pass. The humming of Starscream's engines was muffled in here but we could still here the mechanical groans of a decepticon lumbering nearby. There was a beautiful star made of glass bottles imprinted on the wall, casting a blue and white glow on the opposite wall as the sunlight flooded in. There was barely anything here, simple wooden shelves holding a few worthless possessions. Clutching my gun tightly I crouched beside Mikaela and rubbed her arm gently, giving her an encouraging smile.  
"Good thinking." I whispered to her. Sam came over and knelt in front of her, seeing her distress and taking it upon himself to comfort his girlfriend. I moved out of the way to give them as much privacy as I could.  
"Once it's clear we run as fast as we can for Optimus okay?" he whispered.  
"What if it doesn't work?" she asked the one thing that was plaguing my own mind and I swallowed thickly, shaking away the pessimism and clinging instead to the only hope I had left – if I let it go I'd shatter. Sam tugged her up and headed for the door when a loud bang rocked the small house we were hiding in. Mikaela gasped as we crouched back into the walls again. My heart was racing, palms sweating while I gripped my gun tightly. Dust fell from the ceiling as the decepticon outside (whether it was Starscream or not) plodded about. Mikaela's shaky breath seemed much louder with her hands over her mouth and Sam held her tightly against his chest, looking at me with fearful eyes. This adventure had become so much more dangerous than our last and I had to swallow back the fear of our imminent deaths in order to focus on the task at hand – AKA how do I get out of this house without anyone dying?

It seemed like forever that the decepticon lumbered about, the mechanical grinding of its joints making me gnash my teeth together. There was a hole in the wall beside me and I attempted to peer through it before realising it was sealed from the other side. Glancing around I spotted an old looking fire poker of sorts and jabbed it through carefully, peeking through the hole and struggling to contain my groan. A huge silver decepticon loped past and fired into the sand beyond, the noise making me jump as a much larger beastly thing peered over a building, seemingly straight at me. I could hear other decepticons down the street on the right, kicking at buildings and speaking to each other in those grunts and groans that I couldn't understand. A sleek metal animal came strolling by casually, it looked like a sort of graceful leopard but I guessed it was far more deadly. A little bug jumped up into the hole and I recoiled instinctually before spotting something that was definitely not natural. It looked like a tiny satellite sat on its back. Reaching in I grasped it tightly between my thumb and index finger, heart pounding and hands trembling slightly as I slowly pinched its head, its glowing red eyes glaring at me as it squeaked in panic before I pulled it apart. It powered down with a high pitched whine, like when you turn off a fan, and a decepticon let out a groan. My eyes slowly travelled upward and I swallowed thickly. _Please tell me that wasn't the decepticon version of an eye in the sky_ I thought desperately. I aimed my gun at the ceiling anyway, knowing in my heart I'd done another stupid thing. The ceiling was ripped up with a horrific tearing sound and Mikaela screamed in shock.

Glowing red eyes stared in at us with an almost satisfactory gleam as Sam and Mikaela ran to get behind me. Its hand shot in, hitting the wall just above our heads in its effort to grab us and sending up dust and rubble. Sam and Mikaela fell through the wall but I remained standing, urging them to go as I took aim and fired on the decepticon. He fell back with a grunt as I got him square in the face, following after Sam and Mikaela as they burst outside and sprinted up a set of stairs winding around the buildings. Thank god this village was such a rat run, easy to get lost in…unless you were running from robots bigger than the buildings with a perfect birds eye view.  
"Ellie!" Sam yelled panickedly. My head turned and at the last second I managed to stop myself as a giant yellow crane claw came crashing through the stairs. I was nearly knocked off balance, arms flailing wildly as I struggled to remain on my feet before I leapt over the gap and scrabbled up the steps to meet them, turning to fire on the yellow decepticon who had fired the claw and watching the sabot round punch into his shoulder.  
"Go! Go!" I bellowed.

Sam kept a tight hold of Mikaela's hand as they leapt across the gap between two houses, me alongside them. The high pitched whine of a canon firing made me and Mikaela scream as dust and rubble blew up in our faces. I felt a small sting on my cheek and closed my eyes tightly, coughing on rubble as we hit the next roof hard and rolled straight through a thatch porch cover to hit the sandy ground. Winded and aching I forced my body up, blood roaring in my ears and adrenaline racing around my body I yanked up Sam and Mikaela by their hands before dragging them around behind the building out of the way. There was a gap in a crumbling stone wall that we stopped behind for cover, seeing thick black smoke rolling up into the sky as canon fire kicked up bursts of sand and bullets were fired back at the distorted figures of the decepticons. Swallowing thickly I glanced behind us to make sure we weren't about to be ambushed.  
"Looks like we've still got about a half mile that way." Sam sounded disheartened and I nodded firmly,  
"We can do it." I assured him, panting slightly, "I'll cover you if we get stuck but no matter what you get to Optimus." Sam frowned and shook his head,  
"And leave you? No way Ellie we're not-"  
"We don't have time to argue!" I snapped, cutting him off, "You and I both see how this is going to go if we don't get to Optimus soon Sam, he's our only hope, so if it comes to it you leave me behind and you get to him." Sam looked horrified by the very thought and my own heart clenched. I was so not ready to die but what better way to go was there than battling aliens to save the world? That was a pretty awesome death, one I wasn't really ready for but would be happy with if it came down to it.

Then we were running again, sprinting through buildings and archways and sand in an effort to get to Optimus. _We're coming Will, just hold on_ I thought. You know you're out of breath when even your inner voice is panting. My feet were aching, my palms so sweaty my gun was slipping slightly but I didn't relinquish it. The sounds of the battle were drowned out over the beating of my own heart. We got one shot at this, one shot only. God Mission City seemed simple compared to this. We crested another white sandy dune and I spotted two figures in the sand being tormented by a huge red bulldozer. My eyes widened slightly as we got closer, my heart thudding to a stop in my chest.  
"Sam! Ellie! Sam!" the voices that had called my name so often in the years I'd lived, the voices that had sung me to sleep and taught me how to read, the voices that had told me one bad joke after another to make me laugh as a child. Our parents ran towards us and we stopped at nothing to reach them, our momentary shock not paralysing us for too long but just long enough. The bulldozer had transformed and flipped over the nearest building, firing on the building and bringing down stones and dust tumbling over me and Mikaela. Coughing and sputtering over the dust we watched mom and dad cower on the floor, hands raised as a sign of surrender to the canon pointed at them as I aimed my gun at the decepticon's face. Sam pushed it down with a frantic shake of his head as oil dripped from the monsters lips,  
"They'll shoot them don't!" he pleaded, "Just stop, stop stop!"  
"Sam! Sam! I want you to listen to me, run! Run! Get out of here, run!" dad yelled, motioning for us to go as Sam tried to get him to shut up. A large spiky tail crashed into the ground between us and mom screamed. They had dirt smudged on their cheeks and their clothes were dirty but they looked no worse for wear, something that relieved me greatly.  
"Mom, dad, shut up and let us handle this!" I yelled over their shouting.

Sam held up his hands and pulled the sock from his pocket, coaxing the decepticon into watching him and him alone as he got him to turn his back on me and Mikaela.  
"Sam they'll kill us all anyway!" Dad snapped, but Sam ignored him. Glancing up I saw the bright yellow form of Bee on the roof. Sam was distracting it! Lifting my gun I gave Bee a small nod, a promise I'd have his back when he attacked and Bee gave me a thumbs up.  
"Bumblebee!" Sam screeched in panic as the red decepticon reached towards him. Bee did a backflip with his leg catching the monster in the head as he landed, mask flipping down onto his face as he went into battle mode, fists and legs flying with more agility than a ballet dancer. Eyes narrowing on my target I was careful to not hit Bee as I fired, pushing the decepticon down to his knees with Bee as its large body and tail thrashed about and sent sand and debris everywhere. An old car got smashed up as my parents screamed at me to get back and stay out of the way. Bee was up in the air suddenly, ripping part of its face off and landing hard on top of it where he proceeded to dismantle the beast. Out of nowhere that metal leopard was back, sharp claws digging into Bee as he thrashed and struggled to throw it off, whirring his complaints as I tried to get a clear shot,  
"Bee stay still!" I shouted, frantically ducking to the left as the metal tail of the red decepticon came at me. Bee paused for just long enough for me to shoot it off like it was some sort of pesky bug. The thunks of metal on metal continued in my ears as I focused on the leopard like decepticon, firing and reloading rapidly as I moved forward and backward with it as though we were dancing.

Ignoring the protests of my family I continued my fight, heart racing as I reloaded the last of my sabot rounds into my gun and lined up the shot, waiting for it to pounce before taking the shot. It went straight through its chest and as I stumbled backwards as it collapsed in front of me, no longer moving as the red glow faded from its eyes. Sighing in relief I sank to my knees as the dust settled and Bee straightened, his mask flipping up so we could share a long look.  
"Bee?" Sam said his name like a question and Bee gave him a nod. I scoffed breathlessly,  
"Oh don't mind your sister!" Sam just shot me a grin in reply and I smiled tiredly back at him, breathing slowly returning to normal. God was I tired after all this running but we had to press on. Sam lead us through the alleyway between two buildings and we were back on our way to Optimus, Bee watching over us now and running with his, his footfalls shaking the ground. More missiles and canon blasts hit the ground around us and we stopped still to get some cover, dad falling against a rusted car exhaustedly with mom beside him. Sam caught Bee's attention, looking back at our parents,  
"Bee get them somewhere safe." He ordered. Dad was already protesting heartily, informing Sam that we were a family and we were going together. "No, no dad let me go, let me go!" Sam bellowed over him. Dad seemed to see him as I did then, realised his boy had become a man and could make his own choices.  
"Ron." Mom whispered, "Ron, let him go…let him go." She looked how I felt, terrified.  
"You come back!" Dad snapped angrily, pushing Sam back roughly, "You both come back!" he had never shown more emotion than he did right then, red in the face and tears building in his eyes.  
"Keep each other safe." Mom pleaded, pulling me into a tight hug. Dropping my gun I held her back tightly. I hadn't thought once about them in all of this, I'd given no thought to how us being on the run would affect them. They were supposed to be on holiday in Paris after all, I guess I just thought they wouldn't know until we came home and told them.

Sam and Mikaela were ready to go apparently and I let go of mom with a nod, promising I'd look after them like I always did. They hurried off, climbing into Bee and watching us as they left. Grabbing my gun I narrowed my eyes, giving them a firm nod and glancing around at the destruction we'd caused,  
"Come on." I urged, "We need to get going and meet up with Will and the boys, we have to get to Optimus." Sam took hold of Mikaela's hand while I swallowed thickly, following the sounds of gunfire as we picked up speed again. My dad had never shown us how much he cared like that before, hell the most we usually got was a nod and a wave of his hand as he dismissed us from the room when we said goodnight, but he'd nearly cried! If he was worried did that mean I should be? Shaking the thought away I focused on keeping my breathing even as I ran, each footstep pushing the thoughts further and further away from my mind until I was back to clinging onto the hope that Optimus was waiting for us. It was a slim chance but it was all we had.  
"There! There look!" Sam cried, pointing at the pillars where the main battle was going on. I could see the autobots hunkered down by a large force of men but was too far away to distinguish faces. My heart raced knowing Will was among them waiting for us.  
"Yeah and look there!" I tugged him back as we came to a halt, panting and watching the decepticons swarm the pillars. Biting my lip I glanced around to survey the playground and made an impulsive decision, pointing out the small strip of sand between the pillars, "Okay give me your other sock, Sam now!" I commanded, holding out my hand. Sam bewilderedly did as I asked and I filled it as fast as I could with sand while talking through the rest of my crazy plan, "I'm going to take this and I'm going to run that way and scream for all I'm worth…I'll draw as much of their fire as I can while you and Mikaela run that way between those pillars to give you some cover. Don't stop for anything you hear? Not even me."

Sam shook his head frantically, both of them protesting against my plan as I pushed them away towards the pillars.  
"Ellie no way!" Sam snapped.  
"Sam we have no time! We need Optimus and we need him now or we both know how this goes down!" I argued, "You have to get there Sam! You're the only one who can do this." He threw himself at me in a fierce hug and suddenly I was pinned between two teens who were squeezing what little air I had out of me. "I love you Sam, but you have to go." I insisted, pushing him back with a weak smile, "I'll be okay."  
"You better be." Sam asserted sternly, "Come back to me."  
"Be careful Ellie." Mikaela said softly, squeezing my arm. Taking a deep breath I took a look at scorched sand, the hunks of metal smoking in the burning shrubs and the buildings collapsing around us. This was a suicide mission. Swallowing thickly I forced a smile,  
"I've got this." I tried to sound confident and before I could bottle it, I turned on shaky legs and bolted out into the middle of the battle, ducking and running in half a crouch while waving my arms frantically and firing off a few rounds. "Hey! Hey you want your matrix! I've got it right here!" I yelled, holding up my sock full of sand and sprinting for all I was worth, dropping my gun to move faster as the lumbering footsteps of decepticons came after me. Shrieking slightly I ducked as a high pitched canon blast sailed by my head. The soldiers had stopped firing for fear of hitting me but the tanks continued to shoot shells at further back decepticons on my tail. They were catching up way, way too fast and even with the adrenaline rush I wasn't quick enough to out run them. Suddenly, I was swept up by a large metal hand and I screamed until the familiar and welcome voice boomed in my ears,  
"What the hell is wrong with you sugar!"  
"Jazz!" I cried in relief, sagging against his finger as he dodged the canons and bullets fired his way.

We were so close to the soldiers now and I clasped his thumb tightly as he stumbled, a canon blast chipping away his shoulder until he twirled the sword I'd made him for christmas and blocked the shots, holding me out of harms way. The plasma rifle prototype suddenly felt heavy on my back and I yanked it out of the holster as Jazz batted another shot away with his sword. "Jazz! Jazz drop the sword!" I screamed, heart racing in my chest as I pulled it up and took aim. The minute Jazz's sword dropped I made the final adjustments to the angle of my shot and pulled the trigger. A pulsating ball of purple erupted from the end of the rifle but I never got to see what happened next. It was only a prototype and the recoil was way too strong. Jazz couldn't catch me as I hurtled backwards through the air, flipping backwards repeatedly and gamboling over and over until I landed hard on my back, all the wind rushing out of me as my head knocked onto stone and blackness engulfed my vision.


	26. Chapter 26: Like It's The Last Time

_Blinking my eyes open I winced, throwing my hand up to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight. It was warm but not the over bearing heat of the desert I'd grown used to in the past few hours. Sitting up I glanced around with a frown. Where the hell was I? Towering red rock encased me in a bowl like field, long grasses sweeping at my legs and tickling my skin. Glancing down I noticed that here my clothes weren't sandy nor sweaty, my hair was neat in its low hanging bun and the breeze was pleasant on my skin. Bending slightly at the knee I ripped up a tall blade of grass and begin stripping it layer by layer, twisting it and twirling it in my hands while I tried to figure out what this place was.  
_ _"_ _Your subconscious mind." A deep voice rumbled. Jumping in fright I turned to see the Fallen standing before me, spear resting lazily by his side as his red eyes burned through me.  
"What do you want with me?" I demanded sharply, trying not to shudder as my palms began to sweat.  
"The matrix, you know where it is, you and the human boy…where is my matrix fleshling?" he snarled, pulling his spear up and taking a step towards me. Swallowing thickly I began thinking about anything and everything that wasn't matrix related. If this really was my subconscious mind and he was in my head I couldn't give him any clues as to where it was. "A clever little thing…but I will have answers!" The Fallen growled, thrusting his spear forward. I dodged to the left, the sky turning a stormy grey as a great crack of lightning brought a torrential downpour all of a sudden. I turned on my heel and ran, sprinting through the field of grass towards one of the rock walls. "Get back here!" the Fallen boomed from behind me, his running shaking the earth and knocking me off balance.  
"Not likely!" I screamed in panic, darting through a crack in the rock wall and bursting out onto a cliff ledge. _

_Pebbles tumbled down into the oblivion below, the floor covered by ominous looking fog as the rain poured down and battered my skin. Shivering now I hugged my waist, goosebumps breaking out on my flesh as I turned to see the Fallen crouching behind me, his spear aimed straight at my chest.  
_ _"_ _Nowhere to run…"his metal mouth twisted into a vicious grin and I swallowed thickly. I couldn't let him get to the matrix, no matter what, this had been my promise, and now I had to perform.  
"Why run when you can fall?" I questioned, trying to sound braver than I felt as I turned and leapt over the edge of the cliff, falling with a scream as the Fallen snarled behind me furiously while I flailed and tumbled down. I fell for a lifetime through nothingness, cartwheeling and twisting in the air and by now I no longer felt fear, only regret. Maybe the fear would return when I found the ground again? What would happen when I hit the ground anyway? I'd seen enough movies to suggest that if I died here I would die in real life too. I hadn't even kissed Will goodbye. Sam wouldn't know until this was all over…but I'd kept him safe as I promised I would. I promised mom and dad I'd come back too, but if they got to keep Sam maybe they'd understand. I couldn't have told you what speed I was falling at but I felt it when I slowed, my descent coming to a steady halt where the sun had come out again and I was suddenly dry, landing lightly on sand that blew through the gaps of more red rock towering either side of me. Behind me was more oblivion, in front of me was a promising sunset through the gap in the rock. Was this where you chose heaven or hell? Life or death? How was I supposed to know which way to go? _

_A shadow passed over the rock and I frowned quizzically. What was behind there? Taking a breath I prayed I was making the right choice and squeezed through the gap in the rocks. The sand was blowing in a more violent breeze here and I had to shield my eyes, the bright sunlight and heat reminding me too much of the Egyptian desert I'd just left. Jagged rock stuck out in odd angles here and as I ventured further forward I realised this was another sort of cliff, a rocky platform floating on the sunset.  
_ _"_ _We have been watching you Ellie Witwicky." The deep rumbling voice reminded me of Optimus and I was immediately soothed, squinting up at the tall and imposing robots looking similar to the Fallen.  
"The…you're the Primes?" I whispered confusedly, "Does that mean I'm dead?"  
"No." one answered from the right, I couldn't see their faces properly as they were shrouded in shadow and the sun was too bright.  
"Well if I'm not dead then where am I?" I questioned frustratedly. If I wasn't dead why couldn't I wake up?  
"Unconscious." The same Prime answered in the rumbling voice that shook my bones. I shuddered involuntarily. "You have fought valiantly for the autobots, your loyalty unwavering, it is inspiring." Frowning I stayed silent – if this was supposed to be a commendation ceremony I'd like to have my family nearby and preferably be awake. "But your plan is missing pieces." The Prime continued.  
"My plan is…wait you're saying the matrix isn't enough? We can't bring Optimus back?" I demanded, running my hands over my face and trying to quell the onslaught of grief and fear once more.  
"The matrix alone was never going to be enough." The Prim revealed, "However you have earned our respect, and that is why we will tell you what else Optimus needs, it is simple."  
"But why me!" I exclaimed, "I'm not the one with the matrix!"  
"You are one half of a destiny waiting to be fulfilled." The Prime answered, "Now listen closely." _

Will's Point of View:

I squeezed off another round and ducked back behind the wall before sprinting for the tanks and diving in front of it. One of my sergeants came up beside me, landing in the sand at my side,  
"Sir they're approaching the pillars!" he informed me.  
"Precious cargo's coming!" I bellowed, getting up into a crouch as Megatron's ugly face appeared, watching the two teens sprinting towards us as Sam waved frantically. My eyebrows furrowed, where was Ellie? "Sergeant there should be three, where's the third party?" I demanded. He shook his head,  
"We've recovered her sir and she was unconscious when I left a few minutes ago." He informed me, "Cracked her head off a rock, she's with medics now." My stomach dropped as a loud series of bangs snapped my attention to the teens heading my way. Sand billowed up behind them as Megatron let off a string of explosions that sent them to the ground.  
"Epps!" I bellowed, springing up and sprinting for them. Sam was still waving frantically at us as Epps and a few of my loyalist boys ran alongside me.  
"Hold off on that air strike, we're rescuing civilians!" Epps barked into the radio. We should have been rescuing Ellie right now, she should have been with them. How the hell had she hit her head? Had she been hit anywhere else? I was unfocused as we hustled Sam and Mikaela to safety and had to shake my head to get myself back in the game.

Not looking in the right direction in this game usually got you shot or blown to pieces, and I intended to say unperforated and in one piece if possible.  
"Where's Ellie?" Mikaela panted breathlessly at me.  
"With the medics." I answered grimly, "I don't know what happened yet." Mikaela looked horrified, her expression crumpling and her eyes turning desperately sad,  
"But she was trying to keep us safe." She whispered to herself, looking guilt ridden. I squeezed the young girls shoulder,  
"And she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. She's not dead Mikaela, just injured, she'll be okay." I answered, determination in my voice. I'd sit at her bedside and order her to wake up every day if I had to. Sam was behind Mikaela, one hand placed gently on his girlfriend's elbow as they trustingly watched me.  
"Alright, we're going to have to make a break for it, you two stay close okay? Stick close on my ass." I ordered firmly, looking at Epps as the radio in his hand chattered.  
"I hope those F-16's got good aim." He muttered, eyes meeting mine in that way they always did when we faced situations like this – it was the look that said it was an honour serving with you.  
"Why's that?" I asked jokingly to try and ease the tension. A fresh wave of adrenaline was pounding through my veins as Epps grimaced,  
"I told them to hit the orange smoke." He informed me. Glancing to my right I hung my head briefly and took a breath,  
"You mean that orange smoke?" I queried. Epps frowned,  
"It wasn't my best toss okay?" he protested quietly so as not to spook the kids. The F-16s were closing in and with no other options left Epps bellowed for us to run.

I shot forward like an athlete off of the blocks, no intention of being caught in that firestorm. Mikaela's hand was sweaty but I gripped it tightly, determined not to lose her and pull her along behind me. Sweating profusely with my heart pounding hard in my ears I tried to yell some encouragement as the earth began to shake and sand billowed up behind us. Ironhide managed to stumble from the smoke to join our group and just as we be reaching cover…Sam left it. My heart dropped and I all but screamed his name but he wouldn't stop, pumping his legs as fast as they could go to get to Optimus as Mikaela cried out in panic. The fire billowed up behind us as nausea took over. If Sam died today Ellie would kill me, but he wouldn't get out of this one in any way I could see. Time seemed to slow down as the dust and sparks flew up and scattered through the air, Sam's hazy figure all I could focus on as we dropped to the floor. I couldn't do anything for Sam but I could sure as hell save Mikaela. I pinned her to the floor, my eyes riveted on the boy as he gave everything he had left to Optimus. A huge and lumbering figure shadowed by smoke and dust and haze rose up behind him, and too late I realised Megatron was right behind him. The shot sent him straight over a wall, flipping in the air with a scorched shirt and blackened chest. Once he disappeared behind the crumbling wall in the smoke Mikaela began struggling, screaming his name, but I couldn't let her go until the tanks drove off Megatron.

It was then I heard the other terrible screech, one I'd only ever dreamed of before, one I'd imagined in my nightmares. My head snapped to my right and there she was in all her glory, a bruise blossoming to the left of her forehead in a jagged triangle down to the middle of her cheek, blood caking her hairline where they'd stitched her up. Hair blowing in the wind, my Ellie stood on shaking legs and watched her brother take the hit. Wailing horribly she managed to stagger forward before breaking into a run, scrambling through the sand to reach her brother.  
"Hold your fire!" I yelled, sprinting after her and Mikaela as they skidded into the sand beside where Sam had landed on some rusted metal sheet of some sort. He was so close to Optimus it was painful to see. Ignoring my own pounding heart I shoved Mikaela back, "Back up!" I ordered, starting CPR in a last ditch attempt I didn't really have faith in. His shirt was torn, a bloody burn mark in the centre of his chest, scratches on his blackened face. The kid was well and truly fried.  
"Fucking do something!" Mikaela screeched. Ellie knelt by her, hands fisted in the sand as she struggled to breathe and weakly called Sam's name, unable to choke the name past her lips as tears streamed down her face.  
"Dammit Sam wake up!" she screamed suddenly, breaking off into a sob as I avoided her stare, the guilt in my eyes giving me away for a conversation I wasn't yet ready to have.  
"Sam! Sam! Sammy!" I could hear other people calling for him now but didn't know what else to do other than see if I had got him breathing. The answer was a gut wrenching no.

Ellie completely collapsed into the sand as Mikaela began sobbing harder against his side. A glance told me that somehow her parents had made it here and were desperately trying to reach their son as I pulled Mikaela around to his other side,  
"You've gotta move." I insisted, seeing the medics come running for us. Pulling Ellie up I maneuvered her dead weight into my arms and rocked her like a child, stroking her hair gently as I tried to hush her with little success. My own heart felt raw, aching and bleeding in my chest as the boy remained motionless after the first shock from the defibrillator. Clutching her tighter I buried my nose in her hair, smelling the smoke and fire of the battle. "Ellie, El baby, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." I murmured repetitively.  
"Sammy." The whimper shattered my composure completely and I nestled my face into her hair so she wouldn't see me cry.  
"Listen to my voice, I love you, and I need you. Please come back to me, Sam!" Mikaela's heart wrenching cries made Ellie tighten her grip on my vest, curling herself as close to me as she could to make sure I was still here. I tightened my own grip in response and gave Mikaela a sorrowful stare as she continued to plead with him to wake up.  
"Mikaela." I tried but couldn't find the words to say. I felt paralysed, unable to move, helpless, no more orders or hope or anything, there was only the time I had left with Ellie before the world went to shit, the time we had left before the whole world would know we failed.

Mikaela had lay beside him, crying quietly as Ellie managed to look up at me. I didn't even have the energy to wipe her tears. Jazz was stood by Bumblebee, the latter having fell to his knees with the weight of his grief.  
"They lied to me Will." she whispered weakly, "He wasn't supposed to die, it wasn't supposed to be like this." Not having a clue what she was talking about I simply nodded, brushing a tendril of hair from her face,  
"I know." I said quietly, and I finally got to say it, "I love you." A powerful emotion flittered in her eyes as she crumpled back against me and burst into a fresh round of tears. Grief, anger, relief, despair, it was a confusing lot to feel, a swirl of emotion too much for me to process as a sort of numbness began to creep in. A sudden gasp made us all jump violently and Ellie sat up abruptly, holding her breath as if she dared not believe it, hell I didn't know whether or not I did. Sam blinked at Mikaela, evidently horrified and shocked and deliriously relieved all at once as she cupped her face and whispered his own I love you to her. Mikaela's eyes watered but a smile spread on her lips.  
"Sammy." Ellie breathed, "Sammy!" she lunged for him and knocked the poor kid back to the ground, but he held her just as tightly as she held him and just like that another spark of hope had been born.  
"I'm sorry." Sam moaned quietly.  
"You better be!" Ellie cried furiously, swiping her eyes with her palms and glaring at him, but it didn't last. She hesitated, jerking back and forth as she tried to decide whether or not to come back to me or stay with her brother.

Sam reached beside him with a look of pure wonder, pulling up a triangular prism like shape with a glowing blue centre. It was bright silver, like it had been freshly made and I frowned at it quizzically, heart soaring and adrenaline returning as Ellie's mind began audibly clicking into gear. "Oh my…they…"she trailed off, sniffing and wiping her eyes again before a determined expression settled on her face and she called for Jazz. "Do you know what to do?" she demanded of her brother. Sam nodded, an almost identical steely look in his eyes.  
"You know you're part?" he asked in return. Ellie nodded as I groaned,  
"What crazy ass plan is it this time?" I questioned. Ellie turned and smiled half-heartedly,  
"It's hardly crazy…well it's better thought out than most of our plans anyway." She answered as Sam headed for Optimus, climbing up his prone body slowly but steadily as my men gathered in a group to watch, the autobots not too far behind. "Jazz, once the Spark's distributed its power throughout Optimus's body you have to hit him with an EMP, like a jump start." She instructed. Jazz cocked his head but nodded once in acknowledgement, lumbering towards Optimus. Sam let out a guttural cry as he drove the spark into Optimus's chest, getting off of him quickly as he bucked and convulsed, a shiver if robots could shiver. The light returned to his eyes, a misty and pale blue before Jazz shot him with an apology that turned up the brightness.

He blinked and cried out and out of pure instinct I pulled Ellie closer to me. She stood quite happily in my arms, watching with a grin, the spark in her eyes brightening up to as Optimus groaned his way to his feet.  
"Boy, you returned for me." Optimus sounded almost touched and Ellie turned in my arms with a cry of triumph, throwing her arms around my neck as I chuckled and spun her around,  
"You're a genius baby!" I kissed her forehead.  
"Baby's a new one." She mused and I frowned slightly,  
"I can always call you Gollum." I teased.  
"Baby is just fine." She assured me quickly. Smirking down at her I relished in the feeling of her warmth, just thankful she could be near me. Pressing my forehead against hers I moved in like I was about to kiss her, but quickly moved my lips to her ear instead,  
"Who the hell is the old robot?" I muttered. Ellie pulled back and turned with a confused expression, looking towards the robot with the metal beard stumbling forwards on his walking stick, leaking oil. I was alarmed by his red eyes but no one else had seemed to react, despite the wary look on some of my boys faces.  
"Oh my god." She gasped slightly, "Jetfire! Jetfire what happened to you?"

The old robot squinted at her and slammed his stick on the ground, sending himself into a coughing fit that doubled him over.  
"Take it easy man." Jazz advised.  
"Take _what_ easy?" Jetfire demanded, "Why if I took things easy there'd be many more bloody decepticon's still hanging around! And you fleshling-" he pointed a gnarled finger at Ellie who rolled her eyes in response, "Don't you go accusing me of being clumsy, I was the best fighter they had, that's why they sent me here." He was clearly senile, denying accusations we hadn't made.  
"Yet you're riddled with bullet holes, find a place to lay low and let me take a look and see what I can do." She offered.  
"Lay low? No no no, don't be stupid fleshling!" he growled. Before we could go any further a large boom had shook the ground, and I turned to see a large spear slashing through the dust as we scattered with cries of shock.  
"It's the Fallen!" Sam yelled. Shielding Ellie's body with my own I stared at the thing in shock. It was a tall and gangly kind of robot, vicious red eyes sizing us up.  
"Ellie?" I asked questioningly.  
"No idea." She answered biting her lip, "Only Optimus can beat him." Stomach dropping I called for my men to fall back, watching the godzilla like robot snatch the matrix and pin Optimus out of his reach with one huge claw like foot.

Squeezing her waist I quickly kissed the top of her head, silently letting her know I loved her in case it was the last time.  
"Get up!" Sam screeched. Sam was trying to urge Optimus up, telling him he was going to the machine.  
"Machine?" I enquired, feeling even more out of the loop than I already was. As far as I was aware this mission was simply to bring back Optimus to stop this Fallen guy taking over the planet.  
"It will destroy our sun." Ellie answered, scrambling to her feet and towards Optimus, "He's right Optimus, you have to get up, please! We can't give up now." Turning to the nearest sergeant I put my game face on,  
"Get some infantry towards that pyramid, buy us as much time as you can." I ordered as Jetfire rambled in the background. Inhaling a lungful of the smoky air I wiped the sweat from my brow and took a long drink from my canteen, the cold water refreshing me nicely.  
"Jolt, electrify the after burners!" Ratchet commanded. It was like watching magnets work. The shock running through Jolt's body pulled the parts from Jetfire's fallen body towards Optimus. He absorbed the added metal into his structure and shot up into the sky like a rocket.  
"We have to get to that pyramid, get moving people." I ordered. I could see the rocks in the distant floating in a ring around the apex of the pyramid, taking out our F-16's.

Ellie gave Sam a troubled look and despite the agony the kid must have been in he still grinned at her reassuringly.  
"If this doesn't work we're dead." Ellie reminded him.  
"What happened to having faith?" Sam retorted. Ellie rolled her eyes and bit her lip, glancing towards Jazz who had transformed for her. Sam glanced about finding Bumblebee also transformed, and in an attempt to lighten the mood the siblings both began walking to their cars.  
"Race ya!" they yelled in unison over their shoulders. Scrambling for Jazz I made it into the passenger's seat as he floored it, kicking up dust behind him.  
"If he destroys our sun we're dead." I thought aloud. Ellie nodded,  
"Exactly, that's why we had to revive Optimus." She answered with a grimace, "Will…I've been such an idiot, sending that text and-"  
"Don't." I cut her off, reaching over and squeezing her hand, "Don't apologise. We could be racing to our deaths right now, so let's forget all that and just be together." Ellie gave me a soft smile that I returned despite my unsettled stomach. Before we could arrive the top of the pyramid exploded and Ellie sagged back in her seat,  
"Well…that was anti-climatic." She declared. Chuckling slightly I shook my head,  
"I don't know, I don't think I can stand right now." I replied, relief saturating my voice. Ellie gave me a concerned frown and I smiled tiredly, "I'm fucking exhausted baby."

We stopped near the Sphinx and climbed out to survey the damage, the distant sounds of gunfire and rubble scattering making me cringe. I hoped Optimus would be okay. Ellie held my hand tightly in her own,  
"Maybe I'll cook dinner tonight, give you some time off." She suggested lightly.  
"You cooking?" Epps suddenly appeared beside us and I realised that through an assortment of methods my men had arrived with us, standing in a loose semi-circle as Sam and Mikaela stepped up a little ways off from us, hands clasped together. "I ain't coming home for that dinner." Epps declared with a tired grin. Snorting a bit I hummed in agreement,  
"We'll get some takeout El." I informed her, seeing her wrinkle her nose and glare at me through those green eyes I loved. It didn't last and she moved against my side, her head leaning against my chest as we waited for any sign of the victor. The tension in the air was thick and weighty, but the sudden silence had left my ears ringing. No more shells and gunfire and lumbering alien footsteps, it was all peacefully quite. We'd left the smoldering remains of that village behind (I'd have to put in a claim to help them rebuild because I grew more guilty the more I thought about it) and the sun was slowly beginning to go down a little, the temperature dropping just enough to be noticeable as the sky started to darken, no longer a vivid blue but slowly getting greyer. In the heat haze as the dust blew around our feet, a large figure plodded over the back of the Sphinx, shucking off the heavy looking planet parts as he went.

Optimus.

Our job was finally done and I could finally bring my girl home.


	27. The Epilogue

**Chapter 27: Epilogue**

Ellie's Point Of View:

Curling against his side I pressed a gentle kiss to his chest, hearing him sigh contentedly while he trailed his fingers down my spine and drew slow circles on my hip. I shuddered. It had taken a few weeks to go through the political crap to get back to Diego Garcia, but in those few weeks Sam had received an invitation to the White House for a commendation, Will had gotten his promotion and was now a Lieutenant Colonel and Epps had decided to leave. We'd held him a going away party, got a little drunk maybe but we had fun at least, and he was off to have a quieter life in engineering, no more front line work. I couldn't imagine being anywhere other than NEST with Will, so here we were in what was officially our quarters now since Epps had gone. There'd been a few deaths, the decepticon's had killed off quite a few of us and we'd had to attend the memorial, but overall we were pleased with the outcome. Walking around in Chicago and seeing daily life going on as normal, knowing that you'd helped keep it running…it was a feeling like nothing else. Will's skin was warm against mine as he shifted to press a light kiss to the top of my head.  
"Thought about which apartment you like best yet? We can't argue about it until you do." He chuckled.

Ah right! Chicago! They were moving NEST headquarters to Chicago so the government could keep a better eye on the autobots. The whole world knew they were here now but not knowing where in particular they were had made some of the other world governments edgy. It did mean however that we had to move with them so me and Will had taken the next big step and decided to move in together.  
"Well, the first one was very cute I guess and had potential, but the second one was very open plan and was on the sixth floor with a great view." I thought aloud. Will's hand moved back up my spine and over the arm I had draped across his chest.  
"How did I know you'd go for the apartment bigger than what we needed?" he groaned quietly.  
"Because it was prettier and you're a cheap skate." I answered, looking up at him with an impish grin, "However you forget that it's _our_ apartment, we've got more than enough with our combined wages."  
"True." Will agreed, rolling us over suddenly and kissing me quickly, "I think we just shouldn't leave this bed." His lips and hands had spent most of last night mapping out my body, a sinfully delicious treat at the end of a hard working month, but (in his words) he couldn't get enough.  
"If you had your way." I sang teasingly, kissing him back with as much force as I could muster. Will smiled against my lips before he moved off of me to the side, nestling his face into the crook of my neck where his breath could play over my collar bone.  
"If I had my way neither of us would have to work again and we'd be on a tropical beach somewhere." He mumbled against my skin.

Feigning shock I pushed his shoulder playfully and tutted under my breath,  
"What a bad work ethic Lieutenant Colonel." I scolded. Will laughed and pressed a kiss to my throat,  
"Say that again, I dare you." He ordered, voice nothing more than a husky murmur as he began trailing his lips over my collar bone,  
"Will." I whined. He smirked a little and went back to resting on me so I could play with his hair, running my fingers through it and tugging lightly at the strands near the base of his neck. It was moments like this that we were perfect, the world was right and I felt content and at peace.  
"You know, you haven't met my parents." Will thought aloud, "My mom I mean."  
"Add it to the list." I said with a smile, "It'll take top priority." Will squeezed me tight against him and nodded once,  
"Dually noted…you know that's my cryptic way of saying she wants to be the first to eat in our apartment with us right?" he asked. Laughing I nestled myself against him, the pair of us getting as close as we could to one another for fear that we might not get the chance to be this peaceful and happy again.  
"She'll be disappointed that I can't cook." I mused, "I hope she doesn't think I can't look after her baby boy."  
"Baby you look after me just fine." Will promised with a smug grin, "Not that my mother needs to know that."  
"She definitely does not!" I cried, feeling my cheeks flush as we laughed together, basking in the sunlight streaming in through the crack in the curtains as we slowly fell asleep in each other's arms.

And so life would continue on as the message spread among the stars. If you're coming to Earth, know that we're ready, know that you're welcome…but know we'll be watching.

 **A/N: Hey guys,  
I can't believe it's finally done! It seems like I started this years ago now but you've all been so faithful and so kind, your reviews have been amazing to read and I wanted to say one last massive thank you to everyone who's stuck with me until the very end.  
Best Wishes to you all,  
JessBubble:D**


	28. Sequel?

**Hello everyone!**

 **It's been a while since I left Will and Ellie starting their life in Chicago I know, but I recently got a message asking if I was planning to continue the story into Dark Side of the Moon. As I said to the lovely person who messaged me I had no plans to continue with the story, I've had little bits of inspiration here and there but never jotted it down so consequently nothing came of it. HOWEVER, I also said if enough of you wanted it, then a sequel picking up where we left Ellie and Will the last time is a project I could definitely work on.**

 **If it's something that appeals to you then let me know in a quick review (it can literally just be a** ** _yes_** **or** ** _no_** **) and I'll get on it in my spare time. If it does happen I can't guarantee that it would happen straight away. I'd need time to get enough chapters ahead that I could post weekly and sixth form life is hectic so I don't get much time to myself.**

 **Hope you're new years are all off to a great start!**

 **Best wishes,  
JessBubble**


	29. Sequel!

**Holy crap you guys!**

 **I posted the suggestion like what? Two days ago? You blew me away with all your replies! Thank you so much for all your support. I can't be sure when it will be up and posted (definitely not in the next few weeks) because I kind of have to study if I want to get into university XD, but I can promise I will start writing the sequel to Bring The Rain either this week or the next after I re-watch the movie an. d get to grips with my characters again. Again thank you so much for all your replies and support!**

 **Huge shout out to** ** _HannahV123_** **for your sweet messages. I never would have thought to get my arse in gear and do it if you hadn't asked me about it so this is really all down to you! Thank you!**

 **I can't wait to see you all in the sequel!**

 **Best wished,  
JessBubble Xx**


	30. Notice

_Hey everybody,_

 _To everyone who is knew to the story welcome, to anybody who's read it before and is wondering what's going on allow me to explain. A fantastically kind person has offered to look over the chapters for me. Many of you complained about the paragraphing and honestly I was both confused and embarrassed and ignored it like the bad person I am, but thanks to the amazing_ _ **NixiePixieStix**_ _I'm able to start looking at paragraphing and do something about it! Consequently, before I even start looking at posting the sequel I'm going to be posting the amended chapters to this story first._

 _Please be patient with us! This may take time because real life is pretty hectic for both of us for a variety of reasons (like my laptop having a hissy fit and decided when it wants to work for me - not amusing) just like it is for a lot of you readers. We might not be able to churn out five chapters at a time or a chapter every week, but it's a work in progress to make it easier for you all and to fix a problem I neglected for far too long. That being said I want to say another huge thank you_ _ **NixiePixieStix**_ _for her help and her support and hope you all find the new paragraphing better!_

 _Enjoy!  
JessBubble:D _


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